You're All I Am Asking For
by Kittyinaz
Summary: Bella doesn't become comatose when Edward leaves. Instead she became angry. She went on to become a world renown researcher, debunking supernatural legends, using her insider information. She even writes a book, all the while hiding from the Volturi. Imagine her surprise when she meets Damon and her entire life is turned upside down. First in a series. B/D E/E
1. Prologue Gravity Pulls

**Yep another story. Here is the deal, I asked for a Beta to continue Every Dark Night (my Bella/Godric fic nicknamed ED) and started a group on Facebook for my stories. Imagine my surprise when people actually asked me if they could Beta other stories! Meridian and Madsmacdonald had gotten in first, Mags doing What If and Meridian doing ED. Then here comes Sitalia25 asking for this one. After she had told me how much she liked the story and wanted to be a Beta. I, of course, said sure! And here is the result. **

**This was a challenge I failed at. The challenge? To write a story in one month and no editing. It was to prove I can write and post without editing. Yeah that went well. First it was done in December. I was doing great, then holidays and Connor got in the way. (For those that don't know my life story, Connor is my puppy. He demands a lot of time...) Second, I didn't make the challenge, but I was happy because there was no way I could end this even with me rushing things. This is written to chapter 15, but while I finished part of the story, I wrote so many issues that there is no way to finish this soon. I am happy about that. **

**This is short because I wanted to lay the foundation. The beginning is taken from New Moon and all rights to Stephanie Myers. I took over at the appropriate place. **

**Disclosure: Twilight and Vampire Diaries are owned by their respective braianics that thought of it. **

**Pre Edit Count - 1,223 Words **

_Song I listened to for this chapter: All That I am Asking For _by Lifehouse.

* * *

*"Come for a walk with me," he suggested in an unemotional voice, taking my hand.

I didn't answer. I couldn't think of a way to protest, but I instantly knew I wanted to. I didn't like this. _This is bad, this is very bad,_ the voice in my head repeated again and again.

But he didn't wait for an answer. He pulled me along toward the east side of the yard, where the forest encroached. I followed unwillingly, trying to think through the panic. It was what I wanted, I reminded myself. The chance to talk it all through. So why was the panic choking me?

We'd gone only a few steps into the trees when he stopped. We were barely on the trail-I could still see the house.

Some walk.

Edward leaned against a tree and stared at me, his expression unreadable.

"Okay, let's talk," I said. It sounded braver than it felt.

He took a deep breath.

"Bella, we're leaving."

I took a deep breath too. This was an acceptable option. I thought I was prepared. But I still had to ask.

"Why now? Another year-"

"Bella, it's time. How much longer could we stay in Forks, after all? Carlisle can barely pass for thirty, and he's claiming thirty-three now. We'd have to start over soon regardless."

His answer confused me. I thought the point of leaving was to let his family live in peace. Why did we have to leave if they were going? I stared at him, trying to understand what he meant.

He stared back coldly.

With a roll of nausea, I realized I'd misunderstood.

"When you say _we_-," I whispered.

"I mean my family and myself." Each word separate and distinct.

I shook my head back and forth mechanically, trying to clear it. He waited without any sign of impatience. It took a few minutes before I can speak.

"Okay," I said. "I'll come with you."

"I'm no good for you, Bella."

"Don't be ridiculous," I wanted to sound angry, but it just sounded like I was begging. "You're the very best part of my life."

"My world is not for you," he said grimly.

"What happened with Jasper-that was nothing, Edward! Nothing!"

"You're right," he agreed. "It was exactly what was to be expected."

"You promised! In Phoenix, you promised that you would stay-"

"As long as that was best for you," He interrupted correct me.

"_No!_ This is about my soul, isn't it?" I shouted, furious the words exploding out of me-somehow it still sounded like a plea. "Carlisle told me about that, and I don't care, Edward. I don't care! You can have my soul. I don't want it without you-It's yours already!"

HE took a deep breath and stared, unseeingly, at the ground for a long moment. His mouth twisted the tiniest bit. When he finally looked up, his eyes were different, harder-like the liquid gold had frozen solid.

"Bella, I don't want you to come with me." He spoke the words slowly and precisely, his cold eyes on my face, watching as I absorbed what he was really saying.

There was a pause as I repeated the words in my head a few times, sifting through them for their real intent.

"You…don't…want me?" I tried out the words, confused by the way they sounded, placed in that order.

"No."

I stared uncomprehending, into his eyes. He stared back without apology. His eyes were like topaz-hard and clear and very deep. I felt like I could see into them for miles and miles, yet nowhere in their bottomless depths could I see a contradiction to the word he'd spoken.

"Well that changes things." I was surprised by how calm and reasonable my voice sounded.* (Meyer, 2006)

Edward started to say something, and I cut him off before he had the chance to do more than open his mouth. "So, you have lied to me all this time?" My voice was still calm, not showing the fury I was beginning to have as my mind thought out what he was saying to me. All those promises and declarations of love were untrue?

His stare was unchanging as he commented, "I have never lied to you, Bella."

I looked at him, my gaze never wavering. "Yes, Edward. You have. You told me that you were my mate. That you loved me. But I can see how some of this is my fault. I never stood up for myself lately." I started to get angry at myself for allowing myself to trust him so much. Had I been that eager for someone to love me?

Edward shifted slightly. "Bella, I have never lied to you. I never said you were my mate. Look at you, you are a human, how would I know you are my mate?" His look was full of ridicule.

I scoff as I move around slightly. The fury I was feeling was indescribable. "No, Edward. You did tell me you were my mate. But it doesn't matter does it. I don't want you. Why would I want someone like you? But then I should have known. Once a liar, always a liar. Leave Edward." My eyes were hard as I looked at him.

He stared at me. He opened his mouth and I interrupted him again. "Leave Edward. You have wasted enough time with your lies. Since you have no intention of staying, I will figure out how to deal with any issues that come up. I need to get moving on since I _am_ just human." The flinch I receive from him is gratifying.

He moves away from the tree he was leaning on, coming up to me. I backed away from him. "Edward, leave. There is nothing more I want to say to someone like you. I will talk with Alice later." And she will be answering some questions of her own and be getting a lesson in real Bella.

He looks away. My anger skyrocketed. "They are gone, aren't they? That is why I haven't seen them. How did you get Emmett and Alice to leave?" The last was said through my clenched jaw.

I looked at him then shook my head. "You know what, never mind. Leave. I want nothing to do with you nor your family if they can leave me that easily. It is for the best, that this happened now than when things get tough. I rather know who really has my back."

With that I turned away and walked back to the house. Edward suddenly appeared in front of me. "Bella-"

I ignored him. I moved around him, and was inside the house. I threw the lock and slid down the inside of the door.

Everything was a lie. I couldn't trust anything they had told me. None of it makes sense. I couldn't understand why they played the I-care-for-the-human-game? I sighed and leaned my head against the cool door.

After a few minutes, I got up and moved to the kitchen, my body running on remote as my mind turned the facts over in my head.

When I reached the kitchen, my temper flared as I saw the note that I supposedly left. How dare he!

My temper stewing, I made the resolution that I would not be that Bella any more. No, Pushover Bella is now gone. The new Bella is not going to fall for men as easily.

With that resolution, Bella made dinner for her father and her, while she planned her future.

* * *

**Final count, 1,296 words.**

**Short, and I think the shortest chapter in the whole story if not my shortest chapter EVER. There is plenty on this. Please remember, that the rest of the story is on WordPress, BUT not edited. So if you want a taste of what I write when I don't edit, feel free. Or wait and this should be updated each week.**

**Please read and review. I don't get paid, and I won't write for a specific review count. But please let me know what you think since I really don't visit the stats here often. **

**For those that don't know, WordPress gets the chapters first (Because my Beta's hit the update button on there, then tell me) then Facebook gets the first announcement. If you enjoy talking about stories, join my group. We talk. A lot. **

**Fairfarren~Wendy**


	2. Chapter 1 Long for the Unseen

**Here is another chapter for you guys! I am on Wednesday until we are done editing schedule, hopefully to give me time to write in between. So as soon as we can, I will try to post to here as soon as possible. For those of you waiting on WordPress being updated, I hate to tell you, but I am catching up to WordPress before I post a new chapter on there. Just letting you know! **

**As always, Many thanks to my Beta, Sitalia25 for her awesomeness in getting this done!**

**Disclosure: Twilight and Vampire Diaries are owned by their respective brainiacs that thought of it. I just write what the voices tell me to.**

**Pre Edit Count - 1,223 Words **

_Song I listened to for this chapter: Anybody Out There _by Civil Twilight.

* * *

_Previous:_

_I ignored him. I moved around him, and was inside the house. I threw the lock and slid down the inside of the door._

_Everything was a lie. I couldn't trust anything they had told me. None of it makes sense. I couldn't understand why they played the I-care-for-the-human-game? I sighed and leaned my head against the cool door._

_After a few minutes, I got up and moved to the kitchen, my body running on remote as my mind turned the facts over in my head._

_When I reached the kitchen, my temper flared as I saw the note that I supposedly left. How dare he!_

_My temper stewing, I made the resolution that I would not be that Bella any more. No, Pushover Bella is now gone. The new Bella is not going to fall for men as easily._

_With that resolution, Bella made dinner for her father and her, while she planned her future._

_Now:_

* * *

In the years gone by, Bella had made good with her resolution. She also decided to be smart, not prideful, since she had told herself that pride cometh before the fall. So when she received the money from the Cullens as well as the full ride scholarships, she took them. And didn't look back once in regret.

When the Cullens had first left, Jacob had tried to get close to her, and she, after much internal debate and external from her father, gave in. And then after their first date, he didn't return her calls. She had gone out to confront him, and instead gained another secret to keep.

Angry with Jacob and the rest of the reservation on their treatment of her that because of her foolish past association with the vampires, they scorned her, she refused to deal with them and never stepped foot on the reservation afterwards. Only Leah had watched the brunette when Jacob blasted her about her dating Edward. Curious about the anger that was like hers, she went to Bella's house to find out what had happened. When she learned of everything Bella had gone through, she had tried to get the rest of the Pack's attention. She did, but it was too late for Bella and the pack. Bella Swan had decided never to give someone a second chance after they treated her like that. It hurt too much and she was tired of being hurt by inconsiderate fools.

She did what she felt she had to do to finish school and left them all behind as she concentrated on her plan for her future. Once graduation came, Bella left without a second glance. The only person she had kept up with afterwards was her father. But when he started to date Sue and found out all the secrets, he told her he understood. For while she did lie and kept secrets from him, he has also kept secrets from her, for the same reason. And with those thoughts, and what he had learned from his daughter, he knew what would need to happen for her to live. He began the subtle pulling away from his daughter he loved, knowing that if nothing else, one person would find her and hopefully give her the gift that she had wanted at one point.

So when Bella was getting ready to graduate with a degree in English and Archeology, and not wanting to go back to Forks or even the state, Charlie offered her an alternative. He told her that her Grandmother Helen Swan had come from a town in Virginia called Mystic Falls and that they were the last descendants of the line. He told her that the house was still there and she was more than welcome to live there, since it was just sitting there empty. He had also known that if she was there, she could be found quicker.

Unknown to Charlie, Bella had taken her story and while in college, she had written it down as an exercise in one of her classes. It was to be a fantasy life, but Bella got a few chuckles as she wrote true life, figuring that it would be taken as fantasy. Her teacher had praised her abilities to bring the world to life with such richness and encouraged her to write a story. Bella removed some features and added others. Enough to make them different and not to get her in trouble with the Volturi, the three leaders that she remembered Edward showing and telling her about.

It became a hit under a pseudo name she had taken. She refused any publicity and according to her agent, it seemed to add to the mystery. There had been many fans who had requested that she do more books, but right now, she didn't feel like doing them. They wanted a happy ending, and as the first book stands, there is a chance for that. Her story however ended on a bad note.

So the offer of a home in Mystic Falls, away from the madness of the supernatural was a godsend. She made a trip out there one weekend to look at the house and see what needs to be done to make it possible for her to live in.

* * *

She comes on a Wednesday. Liz Forbes, the Sherriff, had decided to meet her as a courtesy to Charlie. She is smiling as she greets the young woman standing in front of her, "Welcome to Virginia, Ms. Swan!"

Bella smiles at the woman, saying, "I look forward to living in the town. I have much research to do and look forward to being here where it is quiet."

Liz's smile didn't waiver, but her mind is going furiously, '_I wonder how she will deal with the supernatural world. Her grandmother left, but her family name is still revered and honored on the council. When I told them that there will be a Moutin here, they were happy.'_

Bella is quiet as they make their way to the house, she watches out the windows of the car. When they pull up a driveway and the house appears, Bella is shocked to see that it didn't look as run down as she was expecting from the way her father described it.

Liz stops the car and looks over at the new resident of Moutin Plantation. She comments, "I guess you were expecting a really run down house?"

Bella nods as she exits the vehicle.

Liz smiles and gets out, telling her, "All Council Members homes are taken care of. Even if the current owners are deceased or not here. It all comes from the Council funds. You have no idea how much the Council is happy you are here."

Turning, Bella questions, "The Council?"

Liz sighs, and tells her, "We will get more on that when you are here to stay. It's part of your birthright as a descendent of the Moutins. From what we can gather you and your father are the last ones."

Bella sighs and puts it aside. She doesn't need to worry on something she wasn't going to be able to do anything about at this time. She follows Liz into the house. She notices a raven sitting in a tree watching her avidly.

Liz turns to her and asks, "Will you be taking over the up keeping of the home?"

Bella arches an eyebrow at her.

Looking around the entrance of the home, Liz explains, "I was just asking, if you are then I can give you the keys now, if not, I will need to make a set for the Council."

Bella is making notes on the entry way of the changes she is wanting to make. She tells her, "Since I will be updating the house, I will be needing the keys." And that is it.

Liz frowns as her eyes follow the young woman in front of her. She is slight, but her face and hair make an impression. Her face is heart shaped, with her lips slightly too big. But her hair, which is streaked with a blondish brown highlights, when hit with the sun, the natural red came out making for a unique look.

Her t-shirt and jeans with boots and leather jacket are common enough. But her movement and bearing are another odd thing. She holds herself with an unknown elegance that you see is old movies with the glamorous actresses. A grace that is of a bygone era that is not known in a time that slouching is the norm. All in all, Bella wouldn't look odd if she somehow got placed back in the 1800's.

Bella is moving through the house, making notes in her mind of what she will need. The kitchen will need to be replaced completely. But most of the bottom floor would only be updated. She decides she loves the old world charm, but she wants her own mark on her house. She walks into the library and nods, noting that the room will work for her office.

She turns and makes her way upstairs. As she walks around, she notes that she will redo the master bedroom since it is completely masculine. And that while she is at it, she is going to combine it with another room to make it a full suite. Why not? She is the only one that is living here.

As Bella makes her way back down, she watches as Liz fidgets in the foyer.

Liz looks up and has a moment, completely able to see Bella coming down in a full dress as though she is receiving her as the grand ladies did during the Civil War. She blinks and sees the current Bella. She smiles, and asks, "Do you need to come back tomorrow to make notes of the changes?"

Shaking her head, Bella tells her with a slight smile, "No, I know what I need done. If you wouldn't mind returning me to the airport, I will contact the contractors and get it handled."

Shocked, Liz raises an eyebrow. "You want to head back to the airport tonight?"

Looking around, Bella nods. "The sooner I can get back, the sooner I can get started."

Liz just shakes her head and heads back to her car. When Bella is inside, Liz hands her the keys. Bella smiles, and then looks out the window. She can still see the raven that was there before. He is still watching her.

Liz stares at her then starts the car heading back to the airport as requested. She smirks as she thinks, '_Wait until Damon meets her. I think he will actually meet his match.'_

* * *

Once Bella is home, she quickly calls the contractor she had found along with the interior designer and made appointments for the both of them next week. Before she had left, she had given one of the extra keys she had made to Liz when the sheriff offered to let anyone in for her.

The interior decorator listens to what she wants and promises to go over and take pictures of the interiors. The Contractor will go ahead and rip apart the kitchen and the two rooms she had designated for the master suite. She has told him she is looking for a full suite including the closet so if he thinks another room will be used, to go ahead and do it.

Bella gets off the phone and turns to her computer. She is done with her schoolwork and for all intents and purposes can graduate now. But she knows her father would appreciate her walking to get her diploma. Well, she hopes he will. Lately it seems he is getting distant, but she has told herself it is due to having a new family.

Her mother and Phil had died a year after her books had gone on the best seller list. She had tried to make sure it was nothing supernatural, but the coroners had cremated the bodies without an autopsy.

The only family she has left is her father, and she will do all she can to make sure the man who completely supported her and her decisions is happy. He has done much to help her, and been there whenever she had been frustrated with school. No matter what the issue is now, she just can't give up the hope that one person loves her in this world.

She went on to check her balances, her fail safes, programs and to make sure everything is as she wishes.

Bella's head snaps up when she has a knock on her apartment door. Frowning, she goes and checks the peephole. Seeing the man in brown, she opens the door.

The man smiles and asks her, "Bella Swan?"

When she nods, he hands her a package and his pad to sign for it. She frowns and signs her name negligently. She tells him, "Thank you," as she tucks a strand of hair behind her ear. She fails, as normal, to see the glance of lust the man sends her way as he leaves.

She shuts the door, reaching for a letter opener. She has no idea who Isobel Fleming is and why she would be sending her such a heavy box.

She sits the box on the living room table and opens it. It is full of research papers and books. She finds a letter addressed to her.

_Isabella,_

_I hope this finds you still at Dartmouth. I had heard you are going to be moving to the Moutin Plantation and wanted to send you this information. I think it would be greatly helpful to you in your new home. But then you are not a stranger to the oddities of our world are you?_

_Respectfully Yours,_

_Isobel Fleming_

Bella frowns as she looks through the information. It seems to be about vampires, but not any that she is familiar with. She sighs, then puts the box over with a stack of research material she has already packed to clear up space. She will look at it when she is settled into her new home. She has tons of stuff from her agent from people sending her information from her book.

With that Bella gets up and goes back to what she was working on before. She has a lot of things to go over with the Interior Designer and Contractor.

* * *

**Final count, 2,440 words.**

**Please Read and Review. It does motivate me, not that I need it right now since My husband is watching One Piece and I can literally feel my brain losing brain cells. LOL!**

**Fairfarren~Wendy**


	3. Chapter 2 Getting Back What I Gave

**Here it is, the next chapter of You're All I Am Asking For. I am still playing around with the schedule. I really want to write, and playing with it is the only way I am getting to where I am comfortable to be able to write and edit. And there are just days I cannot do either. Brain dead I guess. But I am working to give everyone chapters! **

**Thanks again to Sitalia25! You are awesome!**

**Disclosure: Twilight and Vampire Diaries are owned by their respective brainiacs that thought of it. I just play with the characters to my heart's content.**

**Pre Edit Count - 2,326 Words **

_Song I listened to for this chapter: Blackbirds (Non-Album Track from 8-bit Rebellion! App) _by Linkin Park.

* * *

_Previous:_

_She sits the box on the living room table and opens it. It is full of research papers and books. She finds a letter addressed to her._

**_Isabella,_**

**_I hope this finds you still at Dartmouth. I had heard you are going to be moving to the Moutin Plantation and wanted to send you this information. I think it would be greatly helpful to you in your new home. But then you are not a stranger to the oddities of our world are you?_**

**_Respectfully Yours,_**

**_Isobel Fleming_**

_Bella frowns as she looks through the information. It seems to be about vampires, but not any that she is familiar with. She sighs, then puts the box over with a stack of research material she has already packed to clear up space. She will look at it when she is settled into her new home. She has tons of stuff from her agent from people sending her information from her book._

_With that Bella gets up and goes back to what she was working on before. She has a lot of things to go over with the Interior Designer and Contractor._

_Now:_

* * *

Bella is standing in her new home. She nods as one of the movers comes through with some boxes for her library.

She smiles as she moves out of the way, walking through the home. She had spent a lot of time and care to pick out everything here. The Kitchen and the Master Suite are her actual creations. Who knew she could design better than an Interior Decorator?

They had ended up redoing a lot in the house, the walls had been original from the time the plantation house had been built, but most of them had some type of mold in them. Since she was having to redo the walls, she had them replace the wiring, and adding internet and speakers in discrete places as well as other updates to make the house more energy efficient. She works to music and this way the music will follow her through the house, turning off and on where she is. And if she had a party she could command the house to have sound everywhere. It is one of her favorite upgrades in the house. She did a lot to music.

The entire house is controlled by her voice. She had grinned the entire time when she had worked out the programming and everything needed to get it working, even the headaches doing it were well worth them. She has a house that would turn on the bathtub, or start a fire in another room. The windows and doors are not connected to the system, she has seen enough horror movies about that. Every system can be hacked into. She just made it as difficult as she could to do, but that is why her computer that has all her research is not connected to the internet, all the updates are applied through thumb drives and only after she has inspected the coding to make sure it is what it is promised to be and is as protected as she can make it. She did not need anyone knowing all of her information that is on that computer, it could get her killed. And though some might call her overzealous in protecting herself, she is still alive, and as far as she can determine, not on any lists for watching.

Bella walks into her kitchen and grins at it. She had wanted a rustic kitchen, to get back to her Gran's roots. This kitchen has it all. But the feature she loves the most? It was the tree trunk in the island with the branches reaching out across her ceiling. It is unique and makes her kitchen design original. And she loves this design. It also has an entry way into another part of the kitchen she had designed for the pantry.

The glass door leads to the backyard that she had them redesign to her specifications, and more importantly to her new outside room for her to enjoy the beauty of the Virginia landscape. The original gardens are all still there, but again, she went with a more Italian touch with it and added some features to enhance her vision of the outside. She wants to be able to enjoy the seasons outdoors, and redesigning the back of the house has allowed her to keep the traditional look of the front, but add the things she had wanted in her dream home. While she never thought Virginia would be a haven for her, this house has become exactly that.

She has also kept all the secrets of the house. The contractor had been an honorable man and as soon as he realized the house had secret rooms and hallways, he had asked her about them. She had asked to keep them and if there was a way to update them too without too many knowing about it. The contractor brought some of his men from New Hampshire to work on it. While some may know about it, no one local had any idea. It was all done in secret.

The only reason she had agreed to keep it secret was what the man told her. It was always safer to have more options than people thought you had. He had worked on one room himself. He had added to it, not taking anything from it since the owner had seemed paranoid enough for a hundred people. The walls had been stouter than anything in the entire house and had been infused with some type of oil. He had only made it a more modern version of the room, making a real safe room for the lady he worked for. He didn't tell her he left the walls, just told her he had made sure the room was updated. He had been greatly impressed with her and could tell that she admired the home, and is adding things to make it hers, but a lot of it remained much the same design as when first started. There was no obvious changes to what they did, but the home is now on par with any newly built home, if not better.

He also didn't mention the Raven that seems to always be around. Because of his feelings, he had the contractors block all the windows in the house. He also made sure all the men consumed an herb that his grandmother had insisted he drink all the time. She had old world roots and always encouraged him to act on his feelings. He had made his fortune doing so, and this time, didn't hesitate to follow through on them.

Shaking her head to dispel the thoughts, Bella smiles and moves through the house to her other oasis. Her Bedroom. She had all the furniture for the house delivered already and set up, and all she is moving in today is the personal items from her storage and her apartment. The furniture from the apartment had been donated to charities, all bought when she had been a struggling student.

Her bedroom has all the boxes in it for the room and she goes to it humming as she put the clothes away. She is looking around her room as she ruminates on the changes and why she made them. She loves the fireplaces in the house throughout, making sure that her bedroom and the library are on the receiving end. No matter how much the people installing the specialized bookcases in the library had argued against it. She had installed the necessary protections, and for the rest, they can bite her. She wishes to be comfortable and is eagerly awaiting her first days of fall with the leaves changing then watching the snow fall as she sits either in bed or downstairs in the library in the chairs she made sure had been comfortable. There is a lot to say for working for herself.

She frowns as she ponders the information Liz had supplied. Her ancestor had left a fortune for whomever claims the house but made it a clause of the will that only when someone willingly moves in can they access it. With the money she has made along with this, she has no reason to ever work.

She had tried to send some of it to her father, but he had told her to keep it. He needed nothing and everything is paid off. If she will buy him some fishing gear when he asks for it that is all he needs along with the assurance that his little girl is completely taken care of no matter what happens.

By this time Bella can feel him pulling more and more away. It had prompted her to ask him bluntly if he knew something she didn't and he had told her that he wanted her happy. If she became immortal, then she did. It did not bother him and he trusts her to make the right decision. He only wants her happy and he kept telling her this during the phone call. She had gotten off the phone feeling odd, but somehow, settled, as if they had said their final goodbyes.

Trying to get her mind off of it, Bella calls out, "Play Linkin Park." And cannot help but grin like a little girl as the music comes out. She hums along with the music as she moves around in the room.

Outside the room, a black raven watches her, settling into the tree for a long period of gathering intelligence about the newest member of Mystic Falls…and wonders why he has been almost compelled to watch over her.

* * *

When the movers had knocked on her door to tell her they are finished, she had paid them and happily moved through the house as the music follows her. She is by herself and it allows her to be carefree and happy as she once was. Before too many lies had interfered with her life and irrevocably change it.

She heads next to her Library to unpack. She had finished in the bedroom and wandered into the bathroom putting away the towels she had washed the day before. While she had waited for all the furniture to be delivered, she had grinned at her well thought out plan that had the appliances delivered the day before, the ones like the washer and dryer as well as some others. The TV's and kitchen appliances had been already installed by her contractor, the kitchen being mostly built in. So she had washed the towels and things she had bought for the house, while waiting for the furniture to be delivered by all the different places she had found them.

She hums along with Blackbirds as she opens the boxes and starts to arrange them around the desk she has in the Library. She has kept the heavy old desk that has been in here since it was originally built, according to the pictures the contractor had found in the secret room. She has framed them and added the pics to the library to give it more of a feel for the history of the house. A lot of the house has the original furniture, however comfort won out against antiques when it came down to it. This has been one piece she had been happy to keep since she thought she would need to have one built to her standards.

As she puts the materials away, she thinks back to the odd package she had received when she had come back from her inspection of this house. She is not sure if she will put it away yet, and then decides that she will leave that box last, so that she can go ahead and set it up on her computer when she is done with the house. A project to get her started in the new place.

After awhile, she decides to go to town and eat at the restaurant that she was been informed about by Liz when they were driving back to the airport. After making sure she isn't covered in dust, she heads out to her new SUV.

She had bought the Porsche only after her father had insisted on it for the snow. It had been one of the few times he had talked to her after the strange feeling of being told goodbye. She had laughed, and when she had reminded him about old Betsy, but he wouldn't relent on his strange insistence. She did as he requested, and now she is thrilled with it. But nothing could compare to her Corvette Stingray. She loves it, and it is being delivered tomorrow.

She heads into town, not noticing the raven flying alongside with her as she heads into town.

* * *

At the Grill, Bella parks her vehicle and heads inside, hesitating for a second, her eyes having found a loving couple in a booth. She sighs, remembering that it had once been her as one half of that couple and heads to the bar. She sits by herself, and once the bartender comes over, she asks for "Whiskey, Black label neat, please." She also orders a burger with it.

She is watching in the mirror the bar behind her as her mind catalogs all the people and where they are. Ever since she took the gymnastics and self-defense classes then taking Aikido and having worked her way through Aiki-Budo, Yosekan and Yoshinkan she has been more vigilant about her surroundings. They had improved her balance and helped make her mind sharper. This had all been used to increase her mental abilities since her sensei had decided that this will be important to her longevity. He had caught on to her interests, and tailored her lessons to help her, while never telling her more than if she needed his help, all she had to do is ask.

So it is extremely odd she never noticed the man sitting next to her until he comments in a silky baritone that caresses her ears, "I have never seen you here before."

Bella's eyes snap to his ice blue ones in the mirror as she comments, "And how often has that pick up line worked for you?"

He grins as he answers her, "It works well as an ice breaker."

He has black hair and a strong jaw that just tempts her to want to kiss along it. But she fights her attraction down as she notices his cocky attitude. Arching her eyebrow at him, "I suppose it does, and shows how needy you are."

His eyes narrow in the mirror at her as he replies, "Ouch. That is kinda cold to say to someone who you just met. Isn't it?"

They are interrupted by the bartender delivering her drink and placing a bourbon in front of the man. She smiles, always remembering her father as he introduced her to this drink even though he prefers his Vitamin R's. No matter the situation between them, she treasures memories like this and tries to give a moment to the memory of these moments for the rest of her life.

The man beside her stares as she smiles to herself. He has been following her all day and has found out nothing more than she loves her house and that she likes Linkin Park. He had hoped that starting a conversation would open her up.

So far, he has found her to be snarky. Something he personally was attracted to. Strongly.

He looks at her, taking in the whole picture. She is gorgeous, and she didn't know it. She is not vain, but she dresses and acts as though she is unimportant. However, she is sure of _who_ she is. And that is also huge turn on for him. He is getting tired of the women who fell at his feet.

All this passed in the time it takes for her to take a swallow.

She smiles at the bartender as he delivers her food, and refills her drink for her. She hands him cash, telling him to keep the change as she grabs her food and drink and moves from the bar to a table.

She had just sat down and then sighs. "Are you going to follow me everywhere?"

The man smirks. "I never got your name. Makes a man curious. Let's do an exchange. My name is Damon." He raises an eyebrow in question to her, really wanting to get her to tell him her name.

Without missing a beat, Bella replies. "That's nice. Now go away. Find some frat sorority girl and pull your stunts with them."

He cannot help the laugh. "Snarky aren't you?" With that he pulls out a seat and drops himself in it. "What's in a name?" He inquires as he watches her, his bourbon in his other hand.

She bit into her sandwich and when she is done, she continues to eat sipping her whiskey, blatantly ignoring the handsome man in front of her. She fell for one man's charms once, and has paid for it since then. She is not eager to make that mistake again.

Damon does nothing but drink his bourbon as he watches her. He admits to himself he is impressed. Not many humans can ignore him.

Bella finishes her food, wipes her mouth with her napkin and knocks back the last of the whiskey. She stands to leave, only to find herself blocked by the black leather coated man. She sighs as she comments, "What part of me ignoring you, did you not understand?"

Damon reaches out and lifts her head to his, his eyes focusing intently on hers as he tries to compel her, "You will tell me your name." He needs to be done with this. He has many other things demanding his attention, than a stranger who has entered town while they are frantically trying to find answers. Their trip to Duke had left them empty handed and him shot for his efforts. They need more answers, and instead he is spending vital time, trying to find out about this beautiful woman in front of him.

Rolling her eyes, she counters back to him, "Someone who doesn't care or give a shit what you want. Now get out of my way." With that she shoves him aside and makes her way out of the Grill.

Damon watches her leave with narrowed eyes. He feels his brother next to him, then asking him, "Who was that and how did she resist the compel?" Stefan has seen Damon compel and has never seen someone resist it without vervain in them. The woman who just did, did it with no indication of it even taking hold for a second nor has an after scent of vervain on her.

Damon shakes his head as he comments back, "I have no idea, but I will tell you, I will find out." He smirks as he mutters, "Game on."

* * *

**Final count, 3,219 words.**

**Please leave a note to let me know how you think it is going. And just to let people be aware, this is a M rated fic. It takes a long time to get there, but it does get M Rated for a reason.**

**Fairfarren~Wendy**


	4. Chapter 3 Once Upon a Time

**Yep a new chapter! And no the name comes not from the TV show, but from the song as most of my chapters and names of stories are. Many thanks to Sitalia 25 for all her help and suggestions for this chapter...**

**Disclosure: Twilight and Vampire Diaries are owned by their respective braianics that thought of it. **

**Pre Edit Count - 2,785 Words **

_Song I listened to for this chapter: Whataya Want From Me _by Adam Lambert.

* * *

_Previous:_

_Bella finishes her food, wipes her mouth with her napkin and knocks back the last of the whiskey. She stands to leave, only to find herself blocked by the black leather coated man. She sighs as she comments, "What part of me ignoring you, did you not understand?"_

_Damon reaches out and lifts her head to his, his eyes focusing intently on hers as he tries to compel her, "You will tell me your name." He needs to be done with this. He has many other things demanding his attention, than a stranger who has entered town while they are frantically trying to find answers. Their trip to Duke had left them empty handed and him shot for his efforts. They need more answers, and instead he is spending vital time, trying to find out about this beautiful woman in front of him._

_Rolling her eyes, she counters back to him, "Someone who doesn't care or give a shit what you want. Now get out of my way." With that she shoves him aside and makes her way out of the Grill._

_Damon watches her leave with narrowed eyes. He feels his brother next to him, then asking him, "Who was that and how did she resist the compel?" Stefan has seen Damon compel and has never seen someone resist it without vervain in them. The woman who just did, did it with no indication of it even taking hold for a second nor has an after scent of vervain on her._

_Damon shakes his head as he comments back, "I have no idea, but I will tell you, I will find out." He smirks as he mutters, "Game on."_

_Now:_

* * *

Bella had made it home, still shaking her head at the odd encounter she had at the Grill. The man had been attractive enough, but his odd actions in getting her name had put her off slightly. Plus she had an odd vibe with him, which she didn't know what it meant. She wanted to give him more of a chance, and it felt like something inside her was…encouraging her to. But her head won as it normally does and she dismisses the thoughts for another day.

She walked in the door, walked over to the security system and locked down the house. She smiles, because while it may seem as overkill to make the whole house basically a fortress at night, she also did not have to worry about being waken in the morning with the sun. It's the little things in life that she has learned to appreciate.

She makes her way to the Library, tossing her jacket on a chair as she gathers the last box, full of the odd information Isobel Fleming had sent her.

Bella had done some research on the woman after receiving the box. She had found that she had been thought of as the paramount researcher in the occult and supernatural and had been a professor at Duke. She had many people who had praised her work and called it revolutionary and ground breaking. Bella had looked through the information and had been skeptical. The vampires mentioned by her had nothing to do with her vampires. They were not sparkly in the sun, it in fact killed them and they had fangs. After that she had decided to look through the information at another time. She also remembers there being a book on the Sun and Moon curse that she had debunked before and wanted to see what version this one had.

The only other piece of information that had caught her attention is that she thought she had seen the town in one of the pages she had paged through. With that in mind, she had decided to go through it when she got here. Now was as good as any to do it. She is in between research projects, wanting to familiarize herself with the plethora of information that was in her new library.

With that, she pulled the box to her, and started to pull out the items in it. After a while, she was surprised with all the information that is in the box. There are some really rare books in the box. She had also requested when she had the house done that someone go through the library and catalog the books in it. She had been surprised at the amount of what is generally considered occult and supernatural in the library, along with the many journals that seem to date back to when the town had been formed. However these books had been on the list for her associates to pick up for her if they ever come across it. The same group of people had their own lists. If one of them had it, or it came into their possession, they could either lend it out or gift it.

To be as organized as she normally is, she pulled up the database she kept on her personal computer and started to catalog the books and information she had received in the box. She also has her laptop up and putting information in that database that is more sensitive in nature. This ends up taking a few hours as she notices that unlike her, Isobel made notes in the books. Oh, she had used post-its and such, but there is a lot of times that the woman had just highlighted areas and made notes in the books themselves.

Bella shakes her head at the desecration of the books, but notes all the remarks Isobel made. She frowns when she realizes that while a lot of the information is not spelled out like the reference that had stuck in her head, a lot of the notes in the books had to do with the town she now lived in.

_There is record of the Town being older than people first realize. In fact the so called founding families, are not **The** founding family. Most of them are ancestors of them. Why are they attracted to this town?_

And another one noted in the same book,

_So many deaths have been accounted to been caused by animal attacks. But a lot of the descriptions that are given before the coroner declares it an animal attack are similar. See notes for Southern Territories._

Reading through the thoughts of the woman made Bella aware that she thought a lot like Bella did. But what caused this woman to research this? And with the knowledge that even Bella has, things are not adding up. Southern Territories? How in the world did the woman know of those? She had only found out about them in Jasper's personal journals!

Bella sighs, putting the book down, rubs her eyes. She glances up and noticing it well past midnight, decides that she needs to put it aside and she will work on it some more in the morning. She tidies up the research and puts her laptop in its new hidey spot.

With a glance around, she nods and makes her way to her room. As she gets ready for bed, she can't help the grin on her face. The feeling of being on her own and not worrying about the Cullens, the Pack or anything supernatural actually happening to her, made her feel as though a weight has been lifted from her.

* * *

The next morning, Bella wakes early, her dreams of a certain black haired blue eyed devil. She yawns, dismissing the dreams, and making her way into the bathroom, she gets ready for the day. It is a habit she got into, since if she didn't, she would wrap herself up in research and it would take weeks sometimes before she surfaces, and normally only because either she ran out of food, or her father calls her.

So she has gotten in the habit of getting ready each day to give herself a break, to make an actual pause in time since she could go from sleeping on the desk to working and never move from it unless a run to the bathroom. And that break never really made a dent in her thinking to make it feel like a break. As she makes her way downstairs, she takes the house from its lock down and heads into the kitchen to make herself breakfast. She decides that since it looks so pretty outside, she will enjoy the morning in her outdoor room. She takes her bowl of cereal outside and sits there, eating as she watches the birds and trees. Relaxing into the day and the scents of her new home, the sounds of the creek while the wind stirs the leaves on the trees around her. She finishes and her head leans back, just listening to the peace surrounding her, appreciating it in a manner most of her age never learns to do anymore.

At an off noise, Bella opens her brown eyes and tilts her head at a raven that is hopping on the ground, watching her as it makes its way closer to her. It was acting odd for a raven, and she frowns as she tries to remember if Ravens ever have blue eyes when they are not white, but who knows, maybe someone in the gardening crew had made a pet of it.

She makes note of it and will buy it some food, but for now, the call of her research is getting too powerful. She calls out to the Raven, as she gathers her breakfast dish and stands up, "Sorry, buddy, I have some interesting papers to go read through from a stranger that seemed really interested in this town of ours." Chuckling at herself for talking to a bird, she heads back inside. She cleans out her bowl, places in the dishwasher before grabbing herself a bottle of water as she makes her way back to the library.

Bella moves to the hidey place, gets out her computer, and proceeds to catalog the information as she works through it. Methodical as she goes, cross referencing when something tugs in her head, tryingot make the puzzle pieces fit.

The library is one of the few rooms in the house that has curtains that blocks the sun, as well as the windows themselves being specially treated. Bella, after finding out the age of the books in her library, had taken the time and money to make sure nothing in the Library will be damaged by the sun nor the corrosive air itself for those that needed the special handling. She had in fact installed hermetically sealed bookshelves for the really rare and old books.

After a few hours Bella gets up and paces, her thoughts coming to an ending she is fighting the results to. She frowns back at the books and thinks. The books and research that Isobel had sent to her indicates that there are other things than what she had thought there were even in her expanded world.

She had researched from what the Cullens had told her when she had been a part of the coven, then cross referenced the research she had done in Jasper's and Carlisle's libraries back in Forks that there are real werewolves. Carlisle had noted in one of his journals that La Push tribe are Shifters. He had heard of other shifters being out there, that can change into different types of animals, but this had been the first time he had actually seen it with his own eyes.

However, some people called Caius and Marcus had gone on a rampage after Marcus's sister had been killed by the Children of the Moon. That had been her hint that werewolves are real.

These books, however, talked about the Sun and the Moon curse in more detail, as though it was real. Bella had come across it before, but had thought it pure myth, or something, she had used her skills to find other myths that held a doppelgänger to 'release' the curse and used them to debunk this one.

In addition, the sun doesn't kill vampires, it exposes them.

These books and all of Isobel's research said the vampires of myth are real. So real that from what these books are telling her that they are from this town back before this continent was 'found.' That they had been made because of a witch wanting to keep her family safe from the Children of the Moon that were here. Supposedly they had killed one of her sons.

Then came the research that told her that she is supposedly related to these first vampires. Her family and most of the Founding Families are in fact supposed to be all related back to them. But her line is closer than the most. Theirs is a direct line that had come from an Elijah Mickealson. Supposedly he had been in love with a woman who had been in the village that predated Mystic Falls. It was a secret affair, but she had twins, a boy and a girl.

The girl had married into the Moutin family, the son had taken his mother's maiden name, Lebădă. Or Swan as it is translated into English. Isobel had traced both lines and had ended it with her. Somewhere, somehow, her mother Renee was also a descendant. Isobel had gotten her DNA back from an inquiry in a national database her Mom had volunteered for. Bella even remembered her talking about it with her on the phone, trying to get her to donate blood. Since she had been bitten before that, she had refused.

Bella paced, trying to get her mind around this. The time between the twins was in centuries, if not millenniums so that did not bother her, but that both lines had rejoined in her, through both her parents is just mind boggling. How could her mother be so distantly related to them, according to Isobel, that she had questioned it and why she couldn't find any references to Bella's blood anywhere to substantiate her findings that Bella herself would contain the genetic markers to the Original Family as she names them in the books.

She huffs, and as normal when she finds herself in a spot that she needs some time to regurgitate what she has learned, she put everything in order, the laptop away, and leaves to make a list of grocery items. From there she headed into town, her mind on her trip, letting the rest of it all sit in the back of her mind, a habit she had found that resulted in her understanding more.

Again, she didn't see the Raven who had watched every movement she made, then flew off as soon as it was sure it knew where she will be.

* * *

She pulls in and parks. Grabbing a cart, she makes her way to the fresh foods, taking note of the people around her automatically, but not really paying attention, her mind on her grocery shopping and how much she thinks she will enjoy living here.

While she is checking the ripeness of the cantaloupe, she hears a familiar voice, "Well, well. If it isn't the new stranger in town. Now, I didn't think that sniffing the melon really works, you know."

She turns her head and takes in Damon. She can't help but smile at him, his eyes showing his mischievousness. "Well, if it isn't, Mr. I-Can't-Take-A-Hint. Fancy you doing something mundane as shopping."

Damon smirks. "Well, you have to go shopping in order to have food. And it happens to be grocery day for the Salvatores. What is your excuse?" He is picking out tomatoes, checking for ripeness. He is determined to get her name if nothing else. Well, that and enjoy some witty conversation… He has so little left to entertain him anymore after he realized that Elena was not the one for him. Though he does believe that there is someone that is better than his brother for her. Elena is not as fun loving as she has been in the past per Barbie.

Looking down and putting the cantaloupe in the basket, Bella shakes her head. She comments, "Well, as you said, new stranger in town. I need groceries if I am not going to eat at the one restaurant in town." She checks off her list on her phone, then reaches for another bag, and starts picking out tomatoes. She had decided that since she had plenty of time, some homemade sauce would be great to make and can. Making a little or a lot doesn't make a lot of difference in time now. But if she gets lost in research, she will appreciate having healthier meals around.

His mind busy as he tries to analyze the woman in front of him, and why he is so damn attracted to her, Damon watches her, then plucks a tomato out of her hand and replaces it, then starts handing her more until her bag is full. "There are other restaurants in town, the Grill is just the most popular."

Shaking her head at his audacity, Bella closes the bag and puts it in her cart. She checks off that item, and heads for the next item on her list. Luckily she inherited a robust herb garden with her other gardens. So she won't have to worry about buying any fresh herbs except for Parsley. It wasn't worth growing for as much as she uses.

She prefers to use fresh herbs whenever possible, and plans to start a small herb garden for the winter time. Which is why she is preferring to make as many things as she can while it is still in season for the fresh produce. One of her favorite treats is canned pears and apples.

Damon is watching her and cocks his head to the side, "Are you planning on having a party? If so, I am insulted you have not invited one of the few people, if not the only person, you have met."

Laughing, Bella looks up at him. "You sure are conceited aren't you?" She is ignoring the slight pull she feels towards him, never realizing that because of it, she is talking to him more than she normally would. She had just got out of College. Turning guys down like Damon is second nature. She has no want to be a notch in someone's bed post.

Acting innocent, Damon tells her, "Me? Nah. You are only conceited if you are the only one to believe in your awesomeness. I am awesome in every way, so there is nothing conceited about it." He grabs his basket moving beside and smiles charmingly down at her, his eyes twinkling with mischief.

Shaking her head at him, she moves her cart out of his way and continues on to the butcher. She finds out soon enough though, that Damon is following her when she hears, "So, what is up with the large amounts of food?"

She gives her order to the butcher for the cuts of meat she is needing, secretly enjoying the fact she can have them do special requests like grind the chicken breasts for her. Bella then turns her attention back to her new personal stalker. "Wow. Been in town for three days, and I already have a stalker. I think you have set a new record."

Damon smirks at her, "And you have had a stalker in the past for me to be able to set a new record?"

Bella's face freezes for a second, Edward's face and him being in her bedroom at night flashing through her mind.

Watching her face, he sees the raw look of misery and…anger on her face, and he hastily replies, "Sorry, I was just excited to know I am memorable to you in some way." He didn't like that look, and wants it gone. It doesn't belong on her beautiful face. He will kill whomever put it there, whatever memory caused it.

Damon doesn't even question the feelings of…possesivness or protectiveness he is feeling. Making one of his famous snap decisions, she is now under his protection…and his.

Hearing the butcher behind her calling her name, Bella snaps out of it, and turns to grab the meat she had requested, she hastily tells Damon, "It's nothing." No more will Edward Cullen bring her down. She had decided that before and yet…here she is with him in her memory from a casual comment.

Sighing, Damon steps in front of her, his eyes bearing into hers. He knows he can't compel her, but it is as if she is compelling him. He smiles, and asks, "Can we start over? I would really like to know you. There is not many people around here who can outsnark me. It's…refreshing."

Staring into his ice blue eyes, Bella hesitates. "I…sorry. It's not you, it's me and that hullabub. I have had some bad experiences with men, so I tend to push them away. Or at least that is what the therapist that my dad sent me to said. I call self-defense."

Damon laughs. "I will try not to be one of your bad experiences. It's just…you're new. And like I said, you interest me." He is watching her, making note of the little nuances now that he has decided what he wishes of her. She is different, so he can't act like he normally does. He needs to use the brain he has.

Looking off in the distance, Bella sighs, making a decision. "Bella." In for a penny, in for a pound…

His eyes snapping to hers, he breathes, "That you are."

She laughs. "No, silly. That's my name. Isabella, better known as Bella. Don't make me regret this, Damon." Bella is trying not to retort. His answer she has heard before, many, many times, but never in that tone that he said it in.

Taking a step closer, he grins down at her, "This is the beginning of a beautiful relationship."

She eyes him suspiciously, then asks, "You don't love shopping do you?" Twice this man in front of her has made her think of the Cullens, and she is trying to figure out why.

His head lifts in shock, eyebrow lifts then asks with a look of shock in his face, "Doesn't everyone?"

"No."

He laughs, as he moves beside her as she continues to shop. "I thought that every woman does. Even my brother's girlfriend loves it."

Rolling her eyes, Bella comments as she grabs more stuff and marks it off her list, "It's a necessary evil. Someone I knew loved it a little too much." Her eyes get that far away look as she comments softly, "She kinda made it where I hated it." No matter what, she cannot forget being dragged from store to store, never allowed to make a decision of her own. Stuffed into clothing she hated, colors because Edward liked them. It was the last time she allowed anyone to come with her when she had to shop. And she only does it when needed.

Damon stops and searches her face. The pain in it reminded him of his own. He remarks softly, "Well, maybe you just need a better partner." He bows slightly to her as he proposes, "I will gladly offer my humble opinion to you milady."

Unable to help the peal of laughter, Bella looks at him. "There is not a humble bone in your body, Damon."

He smirks. "How you wound me, my Bella."

She shakes her head, not catching his claim and heads off to finish her shopping.

Pleased at her not rebuking him for his claim, Damon watches after her, then calls out, "Bella?"

She turns her head to look over her shoulder at him, her eyebrow arched.

He smiles at her, "Thank you." At her questioning look, he clarifies, "For giving me a chance. You won't regret it."

Bella looks at him, telling him, "I hope not, for both our sakes. See you later, Damon. Since you seem to pop up wherever I am."

He just grins at her as she walks away. "Bella." He softly says to himself. Yes, he will make sure to meet up with her again.

* * *

**Final count, 4,086 words.**

**Please read and review! It does get me motivated, really. I answer those with questions, as long as they don't give away anything. Also, if you have hopped over to my WordPress site to read ahead, what I publish here is edited. Anything past this chapter is not yet edited, and things can be added... Just saying! Thanks for reading!**

**Fairfarren~Wendy**


	5. Chapter 4 No, I'm Not Alright

**Thanks to everyone who has reviewed, favorited, and followed. You guys made it where I was eager to get to my computer and work and I appreciate it! As always thanks to Sitalia25 who took her time out of her busy day to look this over for me.**

**Disclosure: Twilight and Vampire Diaries are owned by their respective braianics that thought of it. I just take the characters out or my own spin.**

**Pre Edit Count - 3,299 Words **

_Song I listened to for this chapter: Thrive _by Switchfoot.

* * *

_Previous:_

_Damon stops and searches her face. The pain in it reminded him of his own. He said softly, "Well, maybe you just need a better partner." He bows slightly to her as he tells her, "I will gladly offer my humble opinion to you milady."_

_Unable to help the peal of laughter, Bella look at him. "There is not a humble bone in your body, Damon."_

_He smirks. "How you wound me, my Bella." _

_She shakes her head and heads off to finish her shopping. _

_Damon watches after her, then calls out, "Bella?"_

_She turns her head to look over her shoulder at him, her eyebrow arched._

_He smiles at her, "Thank you." At her questioning look, he clarifies, "For giving me a chance. You won't regret it."_

_Bella looks at him, telling him, "I hope not, for both our sakes. See you later, Damon. Since you seem to pop up wherever I am."_

_He just grins at her as she walks away. "Bella." He softly says to himself. Yes, he will make sure to meet up with her again._

_Now:_

* * *

On the way home, Bella had stopped to get herself a metal whiteboard. She had also ordered herself a larger Whiteboard to make the notes she will be needing. She wants to get to the bottom of the statement of founding families…

The man at the Staples promised that it will be delivered no later than tomorrow. While she was there, she stocked up on erasable markers, magnets and post-it's all different sizes. The information that was beginning to percolate through her head was making itself known. Frowning, she went back and upped the order to two of the larger white boards.

Her mind busy with the implications of what she had read in Isobel's work, she never noticed the raven who had been perched on the wheelchair sign who watched over her. She made it back to her SUV and placed the items in the back with the rest of her stuff. She looks over everything and mutters to herself, "This is one of the few times I wish I had someone around to help." Shaking her head, she got into her vehicle.

A short time later she is pulling into her new home. She maneuvers her SUV around and when the garage door was open, she backed up into the space. She is told her other vehicle won't be here until Monday, there had been some unexpected delays. She looks at the two empty bays and shrugs. Who knows, maybe she will find another classic to restore.

While the doors close, she is out of the vehicle and moving the bags into the kitchen. She puts them all away then goes off to grab the office supplies out of her SUV and deposits them into the Library. She looks at the time and seeing it is 2 in the afternoon, decides to start to make the sauce for tonight. She heads to the kitchen, and proceeds to start her pot of boiling water to remove the skins from the tomatoes. While that is prepping, she grabs a basket and some shears as she heads into her backyard towards the herb garden.

She is humming to herself as she walks in the sunlight, laughing lightly to herself when she sees wolfbane and vervain in her gardens all over the place. It wasn't obvious to anyone, but if you know what you are looking for, you see them, and plenty of others that are associated with the supernatural world. She shakes her head.

As for the effects of vervain, she figures it wouldn't do her any good, since Edward, a mind reader could not get in her head, she doubts any other power can get in there. In addition, she has meditated and worked on the power to her sensei's suggestion, and has found meditation as a way to relax when she is stressed. But she had pleased her sensei when he had found she got to the point she could be meditating if doing something that is a habit to her. Such as cooking like she is planning today, or even gathering the herbs she needs.

She gets in the garden and start to pick what she needs for her meal tonight. When she is finished, she moves over to the flowers and starts clipping some to bring with her into her home. She is smiling and has no idea what a vision she makes kneeling in the garden with all the flowers around her. No idea that she has a pair of eyes watching her intently, cocking it's head to the side as it notices the view of her in the garden.

When she has gathered enough, she heads inside, working as her mind is busy cataloging the things she has learned. However, she also notices that a certain pair of ice blue eyes seem to pop up often min her mind. A sly smile grows on her face as she is cooking her onions for the base to her sauce.

Damon Salvatore. What a unique person, to say the least. Bella wonders where he will next pop up in her life. He is persistent, but now that he got her name, would he continue? Or would he abandon her now that his curiosity is sated?

Bella soon loses herself completely in the process of making her sauce as she works on a couple of side items. She ends up making herself a chicken bolognaise sauce. She has poured the rest of the marina she hadn't used in canning jars and put them aside to seal themselves from the heat in the sauce.

During this process she hadn't noticed the raven still sticking around and watching her through the windows. It watches as she blew an annoying piece of hair out of her face as she works the eggs into the flour to make herself her own pasta. It cocks its head to the side as it can make out the music playing in the house.

Humming to herself the song that has started to play, La Traviata, she sardonically smiles to herself as she remembers the first time she heard this. It is the song that had played when she had first met the Cullens, as they had tried to make her an Italian meal in tribute to her name. Edward had tried to tell them she wasn't Italian, but then he had never known Gran Swan had in fact been as Italian as they come.

It had taken a lot of time for her to be able to think of them this way. The ones that still pained her is Emmett, Alice and Edward. Edward is mostly anger. She has gotten over his rejection of her, and was told by the therapist her father had sent her to that it was healthy to be mad at the betrayal. Over time, that anger has become an afterthought, but one that she knows will quickly escalate if she ever meets the virgin vampire again.

In fact, the only ones she did not place any blame on is Jasper and Rosalie. It was not Jasper's fault he was a vampire and reacted as one should to blood. And Rose? She had never warmed to Bella so there was no betrayal.

Huffing slightly at the way her thoughts had gone, she works to complete her meal. By the time she has gotten close to finishing, she smiles wryly. Seems she has made a meal for more than her. She leans back on the counter, then decides to be bold for once.

She heads to the library and once making sure everything is put away to any nosy eyes, she looks up a number online. Smiling when she finds his, she picks up and makes a call. Time to act on the thoughts that she has been having going through her head.

* * *

Fifteen minutes later, there is a knock on the door. Bella makes her way to it and opens it. Damon looks up at her, his eyes reflecting the smile on his face. "So the old Moutin place huh? Any relation of yours?" He is thrilled to be here, he had been connected to his familiar and had been jealous when he had seen her getting ready to call someone, then started out of his trance.

Bella laughs and she tells him, "My grandmother actually. It seems my father and I are the last of the line, so the house came to us." For now, that is all he needs to know.

He grins, then asks, "May I come inside, milady? You _did_ invite me over." He holds out a bottle of wine to her. He needs the intent of allowing him to come in, and he never has wanted something so much before in his long life.

Staring up into those amazing eyes, she shakes her head. With a slight bow, she steps away and tells him, "Please come in, Mr. Salvatore."

He looks around and comments, "The place looks a lot better." He is looking at all the changes. To the human eye, you couldn't tell the difference, but to his vampire eyes and nose, he can smell that the slight smell of rot is now gone. The place feels and looks fresh, a way he has not seen since he was human attending a ball here.

Arching an eyebrow as she takes his jacket, "Have you been here before?"

Turning around to look at her, he tells her, "To be blunt, yes. Moutins have always been involved with the council, and so have the Salvatores. I have been here in the past on Council business." He can't help but allow his eyes travel over her, wishing he could have her in his arms. He has come to the decision earlier today, when he had got home, that he wants her. She is always in his head, and he figures, either he can fight this, or give in and see where they can go from here.

Not really noticing his look, Bella frowns then comments, "I thought nobody has been here in years, except for those taking care of the house." She is not sure how much she likes the idea of others having free access to the house and the books she has found in her library.

His eyes snapping to her chocolate ones, Damon smirks, "And how did you think the inside of the house stayed solvent after years of no one being inside? We of the council come and check out the place every so often." And go through the library here, the biggest one in Mystic Falls. But he doesn't want to scare her, not when they haven't had her to a council meeting yet.

Bella starts walking towards the kitchen and Damon follows her. He stops when he sees the newly remodeled Kitchen. "Wow." His eyes takes in the changes and he is impressed. He would love to work in this kitchen, noting the hearth fire that was fashioned to be more than just a fireplace in the kitchen. He hasn't seen one in so long he feels a bit nostalgic about it.

She gives him a grin and she grabs the pasta from the fridge and adds to the already boiling salted water. "Like?" She is watching him out of the corner of her eye.

Damon gives her a look as he moves in and looks around. "This is so…did you design this?" He notes the tree trunk in the middle and loves how the branches are even still there branching across the ceiling. The whole effect is one he genuinely likes.

Looking directly at him from over her shoulder, she grins at the implied compliment. "I did. This and the master suite are my creations. Also the backyard I changed up to suit me. I never expected to have a house this young, nor the ability to make it suit me. Since I did, I made sure this would be it for me." She turns around and is watching the water and the noodles. With fresh made noodles, sometimes the cooking time is less than she had been told. Luckily her grandmother had told her and she knows to watch for the noodles to float before they sink.

She is occupied with making sure dinner will turn out right that she startles when Damon is right behind her and asks in her ear, "Anything I can help with?"

She looks over her shoulder to find him smiling gently at her. "No, unless you want to open the bottle to let it breathe?" She indicates with her head the decanter she had left out with the insert for the ice to chill it.

He nodded and with her instructions, soon has the bottle open, he swiftly pours the wine and adds the right amount of ice to the inside. He turns around and seeing Bella ready to lift the pot to strain the water, moves over, grabbing some towels and gently takes out of her hands. He shudders slightly and notices she does to when their fingers touch from the electric that seemed to course though his body from the slight touch. It makes him start thinking, trying to remember a description from long ago of these symptoms.

Her hand rubs her fingers, watching him, she doesn't say anything as he drains the pasta and then adds it back to the pot, asking, "Butter?"

She shakes her head, "Nope, the sauce goes in and it cooks for a couple of minutes." Her mind is busy. The feeling from the light touch reminds her slightly of Edward, but even then she did not feel it from her head to her toes like this one.

He nods and adds the pasta to the sauce, stirring it in, then steals a taste. "Wow. Where did you learn to cook?" He is watching her rub her fingers.

Her eyebrow raises, "You sound shocked." Bella stares at him waiting for an answer, but the smile playing on her lips lets him know she is not offended.

He leans against the counter across from her, completely at ease in the kitchen and by her side. "Not too many know how to cook authentic Italian. Myself being one of the few who do…"

Her smile gets bigger, "I am quite surprised, Damon. I wouldn't think you a cook, unless it is to impress someone." She teases him, enjoying it.

Damon smirks at her, "You wound me, my Bella. I have you know I learned to cook from family in Italy." He smells the wine, then pours her a glass and hands it her. Hoping that their fingers may touch again, but slightly disappointed when she manages to take the glass without touching him.

She takes the wine and takes a sip. "Well, I learned from my Gran. She was as Italian as they come." Her smile fades a bit then she comments, "It was either learn or eat take out. Let's just say neither of my parents were cooks." Her eyes dark as she remembers the past.

He watches her, wondering what thoughts are going through her head. He finally asks, "Not that I am not happy to be here, but what lead to the invitation, Miss I-Don't-Want-To-Give-My-Name?"

Acknowledging the barb, she tells him with a shrug, "I made too much. And I thought, 'Now, Bella, you have a new friend in this town, why now invite him over to get to know each other better?'" She smells the pasta dish, then turns back to it.

Damon smirks as he watches her stir the pasta watching it for something only she knows. When she nods and turns, he is there handing her the dishes. He helps her carry them and only cocks his head to the side as she heads outside.

When he exits, he looks around at how old Country it seems with the fireplace and other changes she has made. "Comfy."

Smiling, she indicates the table and they both seat themselves across the table from each other and start eating. There is the awkward silence until they both take a bite.

From the first bite, Damon is entranced. Then they start talking about small trivia, as though they both are not wanting to get into anything serious as they eat. He admits to himself that he has not grinned or been this happy in years. It is rare that he gets to spend time with a beautiful woman like Bella, and not be having sex. But then, she is different. She has a fire that most people don't. It's like she has decided that she is never going to be a sheep in the herd and decided to make her own way.

Before long, the two are relaxed in each other's presence, neither noting how odd that is, and finish their meals. Damon follows her in, and helps her clean up. He notices the jars on the counter and raising his brows, "You can?" He has not seen anyone can for years. He figures most people just freeze stuff and it is slowly becoming a lost art.

Bella is thinking how enjoyable dinner has been and looks up. It takes a second to register what he asked and she answers him, "Yep. My Gran taught me, since to make marinara sauce is easy to make in large batches, this saves time later on." She then looks sheepish. "I tend to loose myself when I am working. Often, steps like this save me when I lift up for air and find I haven't eaten in a couple of days."

Damon's eyebrows jump up, "Bella…I know I am kinda new at this friend thing, but that can't be healthy." And something he is going to have to figure out how to stop in the future.

She blushes, then admits to him, "My father and I have an agreement, if I haven't dropped him a call or email in a couple of days, he calls. It is enough to bring me out of it. Plus I have started habits to help me. It's just when I get in the middle of research, I lose myself until I solve the mystery." She sardonically grins, "I have had to do something…"

She leaves the kitchen as he follows her to the less formal family room. He nods as he looks around, seeing Bella's touch in everything. The house had always been too stuffy for him in the past, but Bella had opened it up with the lighter paint colors, but also added comfort in the overstuffed furniture.

Bella collapses in a leather armchair. "I just realized that since this morning, this is the first time I have relaxed."

Damon sits in the chair nearest her and grins. "I am going to take credit for it." His grin tells her he is teasing.

But before she can retort, there is a knock on the door. Bella frowns and then huffing, makes her way to the door, Damon following her.

When she opens it, she sees the delivery people for Staples and chuckles. "I guess Sam was right when he said you guys weren't busy?" She is not really seeing the guy in front of her, thinking more of all that she will be able to write down now.

The driver, presented with the beauty in front of him, smiles. "Nope, Ma'am. Names Joe. If you just show me where you want them, I will be happy to bring them inside and set them up." '_and more if you want..'_ the guy not even seeing Damon behind her, too busy checking her out.

Damon lifts an eyebrow at the man who is obviously flirting with her. Joe catches the movement and swallows at the look on his face. '_Why are all the good ones taken?_'

He smiles at Bella, then turns and makes his way to the delivery truck, muttering under his breath at how some guys get all the luck.

Hiding the smirk from Joe bob's muttering, Damon asks quietly, "How did you get them to deliver so late?"

Chuckling she looks up at the man behind her, "It's amazing what a little flirting does. A single woman, a new single woman in town? Surely you have used your charm to get your way." Lifting her own brow at him as to challenge him.

He grins down at her, acknowledging the jab. "But then, I am a man and there is little chance of a stranger taking advantage of me." His hand raises up of its own volition and touches her cheek softly. Neither aware of more than the feeling that roots them in place.

Then a throat being cleared make both of them start. Damon's hand tightens on her then drops as he slides in front of her. He raises his eyebrow up and waits. He is not taking a chance. Not if his suspicions are anywhere close to being right. It is a million to one chance, but he is not giving it up….

Joe's eyes widen at the man in front of him. He gestures with his head to the boards he is carrying.

Bella shakes her head at Damon's antics. She pops her head around him to tell Joe, "Follow me." With that, she gave Damon a slight push out of the way and turns to lead both men to her Library.

Damon stops, shocked as he sees the new Library. He is surprised to see the older books in special cases and looking around can see other changes, which make the place more organized. His lips quirk at the end. '_I think she will be a great addition to our group.'_ But first, he is going to make sure she knows about him and not to find out from Elena or Bonnie. They will paint him in a bad way, and with how hard he had to work to get her name, he doesn't want to give her any reason to push him away. He is sure that she can do it, and he won't give up on her.

A slight noise calls his attention over to Bella as she tells Joe where to place the boards. He turns his head to the side watching her, taking in the fact her attitude is more take charge. He leans against the doorway, taking enjoyment of watching the dark hair beauty in front of him.

Bella almost forgets about Damon as she directs Joe to where to put the boards. For a second she resents him being here, stopping her from diving in to the research.

Joe makes quick work on putting up the boards on their stands then leaves, getting a vibe from the man that he is most unwelcome.

Damon smirks as he realizes why the guy lit out of here. He moves beside Bella as she stands there staring at the boards. "I take it this has to do with your job?"

Bella nods as she is mentally arranging things. She reaches out to tug a board to the side, jumping when Damon does it for her. "Shit!"

Damon laughs as he holds both hands up. "Just helping."

Shaking her head, she tells him, "Sorry. Not used to others helping or having friends either I guess. Been a loner since I was 18." She runs her hands through her hair, nervously.

Damon steps closer to her, looking down at her. "So let's make a pact. Give this a real try." His voice is softer, pleading almost.

Cocking an eyebrow at him she asks, "Just friendship?"

He smiles as he tucks a strand of hair behind her ear. "At first. If it becomes more, and don't get me wrong, I _really_ wouldn't mind it becoming more, we never lose the friendship." His eyes flick back up to hers, making sure she can see the want in his eyes.

Bella is staring into his eyes, searching if he is being honest. She finally nods. "Agreed. But you should know, Damon, that lying is a hard line for me. I was massively lied to, and it about broke me when I found out." Her eyes dark, her voice low, she tells him the truth, the painful truth.

Damon sighs and looks past her for a second. Thinking about the decision he made earlier today, and with this piece of information, he realizes that she will find out either way. This way, maybe he can keep her by telling her from the get go. It would be a new approach at least. He then asks, "Not that I am planning to lie to you, but how much do you want to know now, and what would you consider lying?"

Bella cocks her head to the side. She finally tells him, "How much do you trust me? Because I will trade you secrets." She then goes and sits in one of the chairs she has scattered around the room. She looks up into his eyes from her place as she admits, "Damon, my secrets will change your life, and possibly put you in danger. I have never trusted another person other than my father, and that was after he found out on his own." Her eyes lower briefly and then meet his, the pain in them calling to him.

Crossing the room to her, he drops to crouch before her. Making a decision, knowing he may lose her because of it, he finds that he is unwilling to lose her. He has no idea why she means so much to him when he only met her yesterday, but she means more than Katherine ever did, more than Elena. He is tired of just surviving, he wants to thrive. He stares into her eyes and tells her, "I'm a vampire."

* * *

**Final count, 4,352 words.**

**Please Read & Review. It really does motivate me. Especially when I can't sit in my chair for long periods. :( Hope you enjoyed the chapter. Also, don't forget my WordPress account gets the stories first and uncensored. And with Pictures. Lots and lots of pictures of Damon. The link is in my profile.**

**Fairfarren~Wendy**


	6. Chapter 5 Uphill Struggles over the Year

**Thanks always to my Beta for working on this so quickly. The pause was me, sorry, but I am working on 9 stories at once. I was getting bogged down and ended up having a brain freeze. Enjoy!**

**Disclosure: Twilight and Vampire Diaries are owned by their respective braianics that thought of it. **

**Pre Edit Count - 3,003 Words **

_Song I listened to for this chapter: Nobody's Listening _by Linkin Park.

* * *

_Previous:_

_Damon steps closer to her, looking down at her. "So let's make a pact. Give this a real try." His voice is softer, pleading almost._

_Cocking an eyebrow at him she asks, "Just friendship?"_

_He smiles as he tucks a strand of hair behind her ear. "At first. If it becomes more, and don't get me wrong, I really wouldn't mind it becoming more, we never lose the friendship." His eyes flick back up to hers, making sure she can see the want in his eyes._

_Bella is staring into his eyes, searching if he is being honest. She finally nods. "Agreed. But you should know, Damon, that lying is a hard line for me. I was massively lied to, and it about broke me when I found out." Her eyes dark, her voice low, she tells him the truth, the painful truth._

_Damon sighs and looks past her for a second. Thinking about the decision he made earlier today, and with this piece of information, he realizes that she will find out either way. This way, maybe he can keep her by telling her from the get go. It would be a new approach at least. He then asks, "Not that I am planning to lie to you, but how much do you want to know now, and what would you consider lying?"_

_Bella cocks her head to the side. She finally tells him, "How much do you trust me? Because I will trade you secrets." She then goes and sits in one of the chairs she has scattered around the room. She looks up into his eyes from her place as she admits, "Damon, my secrets will change your life, and possibly put you in danger. I have never trusted another person other than my father, and that was after he found out on his own." Her eyes lower briefly and then meet his, the pain in them calling to him._

_Crossing the room to her, he drops to crouch before her. Making a decision, knowing he may lose her because of it, he finds that he is unwilling to lose her. He has no idea why she means so much to him when he only met her yesterday, but she means more than Katherine ever did, more than Elena. He is tired of just surviving, he wants to thrive. He stares into her eyes and tells her, "I'm a vampire."_

_Now:_

* * *

Bella stares at him. Her mind busy with the words, what they mean to her and the comparisons to what she believes as vampires. And how Damon is different. He can be outside, does not sparkle, his eyes….

Damon waits for her to process his words, waiting for the outburst to accompany the denials. He also is thinking more on the pull he is feeling towards her, a suspicion coming up from his mentor. Something she told him many, many years ago.

Brown eyes meets his blue ones, they are processing, thinking. Shuffling in her head, making the adjustments needed. Never once did she think to deny Damon's statement…

Continuing to wait, Damon refuses to give up. He told her his big secret, and he will work to make her understand that he will not, _cannot_ hurt her. He will do anything to stay at least where he is, if not becoming more to her as he stated prior.

In Bella's head, she is having an argument. Not knowing how much time is passing by in the real world, Bella is wrapped up in her head. It wasn't until the questions about the differences became too much did she finally focus.

Damon sighs when he sees her back. "Welcome back, stellina." He is smiling slightly, his eyes examining her face, trying to see what she is thinking…

The smile that comes across her face couldn't be helped. "Little star. That is what my Grandmother called me." The memory is a fond one…

Cupping her face, Damon murmurs, "It fits you. Now are you ready for the questions you want to fire at me and the answers you are going to get?" Getting nothing from her face, he turns to her soul, his eyes search hers, trying to read her.

Bella stares into his, and then asks, "Are you ready for my secrets, Damon? I promise you that between the two of us, I think this will be a revealing night." To say the least.

Still staring into her eyes, he tells her, "So be it. But remember, friends. I promise to never tell anyone if you don't want me to, and I am trusting you with mine. To be frank, most of the people who should know, do." He shrugs. Anymore, it doesn't seem to be that big of a secret, but he finds he wants to know more about him.

Thinking for a second of the different ways they can do this, she tells him, "Move, please. And if I am telling all, then I might as well spill it all. Who knows, you may be able to tell me what I am not understanding." She looks him in the eyes as she tells him, "Because you are not what I know as a vampire."

Damon rocks back on his heels, staring at her. Nothing could surprise him more. He is staring at where she is sitting, not noticing when she stands up and moves to her desk. No, his mind is swirling with the same thoughts that strangely mirror Bella's but trying to figure out what the differences can be.

He finally looks up at her, but when she indicates for him to come to her, he closes his mouth and moves, no longer hiding his abilities from her.

Bella chuckles. "Well at least that is one similar trait." She leans back in her seat, knowing he is watching, and probably memorizing what she is doing, she presses her finger against a spot on the bookcase behind her. After a minute, the spot lights up and reads her fingerprint. It clicks afterwards, showing that the thick sides of the bookcase are hiding some notebooks and a laptop.

Damon watches her, commenting, "You are taking secrecy to a whole new level aren't you."

Plugging in the laptop, Bella informs him, "Once you know what I know, you will understand. It is literally a life and death thing to keep the secret."

He can't hide the growl from her comment. No one will be killing her on his watch. Ever.

Glancing up, Bella tells him, "Make yourself helpful. Grab one of the white boards and pull it behind us. And a chair. I hope you have nowhere to be tonight, because there is a lot of information." Inside she is scared and worried. Why does she feel the need to tell Damon all about this? Something she has basically bottled up, knowing that it will never be aired, and now, within a day of meeting Damon, she is spilling her most intense secret she has.

Doing as she asks, he also brings the bag with the markers and such from Staples over with his chair. Sitting down, he leans forward, his arm causally resting behind hers. "So, stellina, its show and tell time." The smile is in his voice. He is trying to regain his status quo, no one knowing better than he what can happen if he loses it. Although, he is getting the idea that he better be prepared for the worst.

Laughing at him, Bella tells him, "Let me tell you a story of a silly girl and her first love…" She proceeds to tell him of her meeting with Edward and the results of it. Sometimes looking at Damon, but as she gets farther in it, getting lost in the story of her life and when everything changed.

Damon listens to her story, his eyes narrowing as he realizes that they left her alone in a world that demands that she either be one of them or dead. He barely keeps the growl that has been rumbling in his chest in, but he finally realizes it is bleeding into his other powers when lightning strikes nearby.

With a loud growl when Bella gets to the ballet studio, Damon is suddenly by a window, looking out at the storm that has started outside, he is pouring out his frustration and anger into the storm outside, glad for the outlet.

Bella gives him a couple minutes, then she tells him, "Obviously I survived." Her voice is even, just informing him of the truth in front of him. God knows she has gotten angry over the years at her stupidity and the actions of the Cullens. She is _not_ used to someone getting angry because of what has happened to her. Ever. Not even her father.

Damon closes his eyes for a second. "Bella, I want nothing more than to have these idiots in front of me." Another lightning strike cracks through the sky, illuminating his face, showing the demon inside of him that is controlled by his will only.

Hearing the anger in his voice, Bella tells him softly. "Wait until the end, Damon. You need to hear the rest of it then we can talk about this, please?" If he is angry about this, how will he take the rest?

He looks over his shoulder at her. Her face shows her pain and he soon vamps to her side. "Go ahead. Though I have an idea I am not going to like this." He puts his arm around her and pulls her to him, resting his head on hers, using her scent to help center himself. When she speaks, he reluctantly releases her.

Bella sarcastically laughs. "Well, I don't like it. And if you haven't liked what you heard so far, you may hate what is coming." She continues through the episode with James, unconsciously rubbing her wrist that will be the permanent reminder of that. Damon notes her movement, but noticing the pain in her voice, just waits until afterwards for his questions.

She soon tunes out the room, the chill in the air from the storm, and tells him of the rest of the story, ending with Edward's betrayal of her at the end. She only comes out of it when his snarl rips out.

He pulls her towards him, holding her to him as he comes back to himself. "Bella, I…can't even explain how angry this makes me. Now, tell me what you know of these vamps. You said they were cold?" He will hunt them down. Tear them into tiny little bits until nothing remains except the idea of them. NO one messes with his Bella. Not anymore.

Bella nods, but stops, shocked as she can hear his heartbeat. It was slow, slower than the normal human's would be, but there. She says hesitantly, "You have a heartbeat." There is wonder in her voice. He is slightly cooler than her, not enough to notice with the chill in the air.

Damon stills and looks down at her, "Of course I do." His eyes search hers, "Why wouldn't I?" How else would the blood flow through his veins?

She is still reeling as she opens her laptop, and opens to an entry on the vampires she knows. She indicates the computer.

Damon tucks her into him more securely, to the point of picking her up and sliding into her chair with her tucked into him and starts to read the file she has put together. He holds her tighter as he reads the one rule, Never let the secret out. And as he reads the rest of the information, his voice is strained as he asks, "Do you know if they ever killed the redhead?" With what he is reading, he just can't see the redhead giving up. But then, Edward had claimed that Bella is his mate. In his world, Mates are so rare that he cannot even think of one of his kind giving up theirs.

Looking up at him, "No. Edward said she wasn't his mate, but Jasper argued with him. The rest of them, as it seems to be normal, went with the wonder duo. It never made sense to me, if Carlisle is the leader of the coven, why did those two make all the decisions?" She is wondering, being able to voice the questions in her head for the first time in years.

Leaning down enough to smell her as he is trying to keep some semblance of control, Damon growls out. "I believe Jasper is right. Now tell me what has happened since fuckward left." Needing to know everything, so he can make sure she is protected. Even if he has to live as a Raven outside her bedroom, she will be safe.

She laughs at the use of the name she has often called Edward in her mind. "I decided that I wanted to be the me that took care of my mother, who raised her instead of her raising me, who took care of my father when I came. I let the Cullen's make the decisions, liking the fact I didn't have to worry at night about the decisions, decisions that really I had no place having to worry about. I became a shadow of myself and I hated it. I turned around my life after they left. I also ran into some shifters, one of them being my Dad's best friend's son. My dad and his best friend had both lobbied for me to date him and I finally gave in. Then after our first date, he never called back. I had gotten mad and went to confront him, only to find out he knew everything, and was mad at me for knowingly dating a vampire. We got into a fight about it, that ended up involving the entire pack and I found out that he was a wolf the next second as he literally phased in front of me. The rest of the pack hated me since I willingly dated a leach. Later Leah, the only female in the group, found out what really happened. She tried to tell them, but to be truthful, I had enough. I had put myself into my schoolwork, wanting nothing more than to leave. The Cullens had arranged for a full ride scholarship to Dartmouth for me, and I took it. Graduated early and left. I went back one summer, broke into the house and read every book in Jasper's and Carlisle's libraries. That is how I composed the information." Her voice had become monotone, as she remembers the pain and anger she had harbored over the years, all of it coming back to her in a rush.

During the story, Damon had rubbed her back, his head resting on hers as he read more on her file. He asks, his baritone rumbling in his chest as she lays against it, "So what did you graduate with?" Trying to draw her out of the state she is in, to center her back to the here and now.

Commenting as softly, "Doctorate in English and Archaeology. But what I do, is research the supernatural. My thesis was on the Flood. But here is the real kicker. I was encouraged to write a book, and after changing enough to make sure I was not in danger, I wrote Twilight." She blushes as she admits another secret, one she is embarrassed about.

Not being able to stop the laugh that comes from him, Damon remarks. "My brother's girlfriend and friends loved that book. But now it makes sense why there were no more."

She grins. "Nope." And there will not be unless something changes… Drastically.

Damon sighs. "My turn now, right?"

She nods.

He leans back in the chair, making sure she is comfortable on his lap. "I was born in 1840. My family is one of the Founding Families of Mystic Falls. I have a younger brother who is also a vampire, named Stefan. He was the darling of our father, and I was jealous. The Civil War came around and I left to fulfill our duty. After a couple of years, when we were close by here, I came home on leave. To my surprise, there was a lady staying called Katherine Pierce. She was beautiful and flirted with me. Like you with Edward, I was obsessed with her. When I had to leave to go back, I barely could leave, and once I found myself back in the war, I couldn't stop thinking of her. The final straw was after a difference of opinion with higher ups over my orders, which would have, and did leave to a slaughter house after I left." His eyes reflect that moment in time, when he had tried to save the men under his command from a bloody and senseless death. In the end, it made no difference, he lived, and they died. Every single one of them…

He sighs as he remembers the rest of his life story. "And made the biggest mistake of my life. I fell in love with her. I thought she was in love with me. She told me what she was, and I wanted nothing more than to become a vampire like her to be with her for the rest of eternity. Imagine my shock when I found out Stefan was also sleeping with her and in love with her too. Though painful, it was a peaceful experience. Then my father became involved with the Gilberts and learned of the vampires. He was disgusted with the idea of them, and at the time, the town was full of them."

He closed his eyes, remembering the next sequence. "Stefan betrayed us. Unknowingly, he foolishly confided in our father, hoping to have permission to marry Katherine. Instead my father drugged him full of vervain, an herb that is poisonous to vampires, and does nothing to humans but make them impervious to glamour from us. Knowing from what Stefan had told him; that Katherine drank from him; he knew that they just had to patient, to just wait for her to drink from Stefan again. When they dragged her off, both of us tried to save her, only to have our father shoot both of us in the chest. We had both had her blood in us still and started the transition. To complete it, you have to drink human blood. I refused, believing there was no reason to go on with Katherine dead. Stefan forced me to drink blood, not wanting to be alone. I vowed to make his life miserable when I realized what he had done and left."

He then tells her softly, "As a vampire, you can turn off your emotions, it is like a switch, or at least you can when you are young. I did so, and proceeded to work to gain power for myself. My mentor, Sage, was one of the first vampires. She told me that Katherine was in a vault underneath the church that I had thought they had burned down with the vampires inside. Instead, they are all trapped down there, waiting for someone to free them on certain nights with a comet. She also taught me how to gain power, until I rivaled her, a vampire of many years older. I did it all, with the goal of waiting until I could free Katherine, and keeping her safe. I became proficient at arts that only the oldest of us have, command over the elements and shape shifting, along with the ability to have a familiar. My strength also is much more than one of my age. But, I killed, Bella."

He shifts and looks her in the eyes, "Stefan is a legend in our world, he is known as a ripper. They think it is because he never gained the control over his hunger. The previous Ripper was known in London. He was killed by Sage because he was getting too cocky. Stefan was taken under the wing of another vampire named Lexi. She taught him to drink animal blood, but it weakens him greatly. I can never survive on animals." He is blunt, wanting her to know it all. He will never drink from animals.

Bella bit her bottom lip as she asks, "You kill still?" She is trying to gain control, but she is losing. In her heart, she knows that whatever is going on between them, it would not matter if he still kills. Not with how her thoughts are on the topic anymore.

He looks her in the eye, "Not anymore. Not since I gained the power I need. We are not poison to humans. We can stop drinking and leave them alive. I personally just raid blood banks to keep a steady supply around. But if I ever need to, I have no issues on killing to save someone's life or mine. Bella, I will kill for those I care about, and you are currently high on that list. You wanted honest, and that is what I am being." Things are lining up in his head… the conclusion he is coming to is causing him to double, triple check.

She nods her head. "I understand. I know I will kill if need to. I hate it, but I would. I also, during my studies in college, found that the Cullens were possibly killing more humans with the way they were. They hunted much more frequently according to Jasper's journals and Carlisle's notes." She gives a wry grin.

He smiles. "I'm glad you are much more reasonable. Elena threw a fit when she found out." His face tells her how much that had hurt at the time.

She raises an eyebrow at him. His smile gets bigger as he informs her, "Right. Elena Gilbert, current doppelganger of the Petrova bloodline. She is also Katherine's descendant and looks exactly like her. Currently, we are looking for information about a Sun and Moon curse that is supposedly based around her. She is also Stefan's girlfriend and claims to be my friend, but has no problem badmouthing me to others." He is finding that while he is still upset with her reactions, it wasn't anywhere close to how he is feeling around Bella. He is realizing the conclusion he has come to is right. And shocking to him, is he cares nothing about it. She is his.

Bella laughs softly at his affronted voice. "And are you in love with the look-alike?" She holds her breath, needing the answer, but not wanting to know. She is giving up the fight with her attraction to him, it wasn't as if she was winning against it…

Damon looks down at her and tells her, "No. I thought I was, but let's just say someone just came into my life and means more to me than her." He looks up and hesitates. Will she run from his conclusion?

Bella reaches out and pulls his head down. "Now, I thought we said no secrets?" Her eyes search his, trying to figure out what he is saying. No way he feels the same.

Damon sighs. "There is an old legend that Sage had taught me. She told me that there is such a thing as mates for us. They are very, very rare, but once you meet yours, you can't let them go. The way she explains it, it is like a huge neon sign is pointing to that person, showing you your soul mate. But there is nothing making you love the person. However, it all describes what I have been feeling since my eyes met yours last night." He is staring into her eyes, his voice hesitant, hoping. Hoping that Edward had not marred her soul and heart too much to allow him in.

Looking at him, she raises her eyebrow as she says, "And after the story I just told, you are worried I am going to run away from you screaming?" At his reluctant nod, she laughs. "No Damon, I am not going to run away from you. I find myself thinking about you quite often also. Do you really think I would share my secrets that I have kept to myself all this time to someone else? I trust you." She admits, a small smile hovering on her lips as dares to allow herself to hope.

He smiles at her. "I was serious before, Bella. No matter what, I want you in my life. Either as a friend or more. But you can forgive me if I admit I _really_ want that more." He smirks, realizing that she did indeed feel the same.

Laughing, Bella tells him, "No need to. Let's see how this goes. But I suspect that life is going to be interesting."

He couldn't help himself and kisses on her head. "To say the least. Now, let's get talking about the rest, and then we can get to the fun part."

Bella looks at him, "the fun part?"

Damon smirks down to her, "When I prove how superior I am to any other male you have ever met of course!"

Bella's laughter peals through the house.

* * *

**Final count, 4,252 words.**

**Again, I am working on 9 stories at once. I am keeping up with most of them, well as far as I can. I give the chapters to the betas and they get to work on it when they get a chance. But because of what has happened, I am taking the advice of my Beta team and am going to NOT work on these stories all the times I am awake. gasp I know, right? But seriously. I am going to try to work with my dog while I can, get him used to commands and such. I will see you hopefully soon. Also, know that while this is updated to chapter 15 on WordPress, I am not adding any more chapters until my Beta and I catch up. And I am changing these chapters slightly, so if you have read ahead, you may want to glance through this one. It tells more of Damon's time in the Civil War...**

**Please leave a Review! It truly motivates me. **

**Fairfarren~Wendy**


	7. Chapter 6 Made to Never Fall Away

**Thanks to Sitalia 25 for her Beta work on this. She writes also, so check her out! I'll let you read this. One warning, this is TWICE as long as the one posted originally on WordPress. :)**

**Disclosure: Twilight and Vampire Diaries are owned by their respective braianics that thought of it. **

**Pre Edit Count - 2,668 Words **

_Song I listened to for this chapter: Letters from the Sky _by Civil Twilight.

* * *

_Previous:_

_Damon sighs. "There is an old legend that Sage had taught me. She told me that there is such a thing as mates for us. They are very, very rare, but once you meet yours, you can't let them go. The way she explains it, it is like a huge neon sign is pointing to that person, showing you your soul mate. But there is nothing making you love the person. However, it all describes what I have been feeling since my eyes met yours last night." He is staring into her eyes, his voice hesitant, hoping. Hoping that Edward had not marred her soul and heart too much to allow him in._

_Looking at him, she raises her eyebrow as she says, "And after the story I just told, you are worried I am going to run away from you screaming?" At his reluctant nod, she laughs. "No Damon, I am not going to run away from you. I find myself thinking about you quite often also. Do you really think I would share my secrets that I have kept to myself all this time to someone else? I trust you." She admits, a small smile hovering on her lips as dares to allow herself to hope._

_He smiles at her. "I was serious before, Bella. No matter what, I want you in my life. Either as a friend or more. But you can forgive me if I admit I really want that more." He smirks, realizing that she did indeed feel the same._

_Laughing, Bella tells him, "No need to. Let's see how this goes. But I suspect that life is going to be interesting."_

_He couldn't help himself and kisses on her head. "To say the least. Now, let's get talking about the rest, and then we can get to the fun part."_

_Bella looks at him, "the fun part?"_

_Damon smirks down to her, "When I prove how superior I am to any other male you have ever met of course!"_

_Bella's laughter peals through the house._

_Now:_

* * *

Across Mystic Falls a storm is raging. It is one of the more spectacular storms in that area that has happened for awhile. Driving everyone under cover, shocked with the fury of the storm that had not been forecasted. Those that are aware of Damon's power, which actually consisted of a very few, wonder what has upset the vampire. It is the only explanation of how the storm could have formed as it did.

In the Moutin Plantation, two people are learning about each other. These two basically strangers are exchanging information , by now both have commented on how much alike they are. Both are enjoying the ability to interact with someone with no secrets between them. Both have spent a long time keeping their own counsel, knowing others couldn't understand the way they are, however, they are finding that they can tell the other in a few words what would take days to tell someone else. And who knows if the other person would have understand their viewpoint? Instead, they are finding out that they are not alone no more.

Bella finds out that Damon is very good with research. He told her it was because it seems like everything in life lately has been a result from something in the past and he has learned this the hard way. She also finds his practical outlook on the world a refreshing change. She has spent so much time hiding, that she has forgotten how good it felt to interact with another person.

Damon, is pleased on how well organized Bella is in her life and on her database. He completely understands why she is considered one of the better researches out there. He had read it on one of the emails that popped up on her other computer asking for help. And quickly teased her about it, but there is a look of pride on his face that she is considered this. He cannot help it. He finally knows a woman who has taken care of herself and others for years. Damon understands this since he is the same way. He is a nurturer. He loves to take care of people, and his romantic side wants nothing more than to feel free to love, knowing it wouldn't be taken advantage of frees him to be more himself.

But he did understand why she took such great lengths to hide this laptop though. It is a compilation of years of research. It is cross referenced and full of information she had come across it. With what she has known about the risk to her life, but the need to know to protect herself, she has compiled the most amazing compilation of Supernatural information. All cross referenced of course.

However, there is the moment when he learns from where she got some information, as she shows him the box she had been sent. In it is the books that Stefan and Alaric had determined to be last in Isobel Fleming's research, Alaric's ex-wife and the vampire he sired, and the biggest shocker, Elena's mother. He had stared at the box that held the information that he had gotten shot at, that he had gotten into an argument about, in front of him. He slightly shakes his head, knowing that his mate had no idea he existed until yesterday, much less known he had been looking for this information.

When her first couple of attempts of getting his attention didn't work, she lightly touches him and he quickly looks to her with a slight smile, enjoying the touch of her hand on him. She asks him, "Damon, what's wrong? You completely zoned out looking at the books from the box."

Blowing a breath of air out, Damon took a drink of his scotch as he puts his thoughts together. "Not too long ago, we were researching something we had come across. Alaric had told us that the information we needed was in his ex-wife's office on the campus of Duke. Elena, Alaric and I made the trip there. While being there, Elena was attacked. I took the shot for her, and got reprimanded because I wanted revenge." He winced a little, remembering how close it was to killing him. If it had been a little lower…

Shaking her head, she mutters, "With friends like that, who needs enemies? Did she thank you?"

Snorting Damon fixes her with a look. "Elena thank me for saving her life? If she did that I would be shocked. It isn't the first time. And to be fair, I had been mad at her not too much earlier and broke her brother's neck." And that he did wince. But he isn't going to hide his past from her.

Stopping her movements, she turns to him and lifts an eyebrow. "You broke his neck because you were mad at her?"

He offers, "He didn't die." Then he pauses, and corrects himself, "Ok, he did die, but he came back."

Just staring at him, Bella waits. She knows there is more to the story, and is patient. He has never apologized for his past and told her enough to know he is not the nicest guy out there. But each time, when she dug under the surface, there was a reason for Damon's actions. He is not the bad guy everyone thinks. He just has an attitude that he rather his hands get dirty than others. He had killed in the Civil War. He has no illusions about life. She also suspects that is the reason he does kill easier than others, she has the feeling he did hesitate and cost others their lives. He learned his lesson the hard way. And cares enough to try to keep others from experiencing the same harsh lesson.

With her eyes on him, not judging, but waiting for the rest of the story, as she has done anytime he has tried to tell her about the things he has done. Sighing, not able to deny her this time as the past times, he tells her, "Ok. Here is the deal. Jeremy had a ring that if killed by a supernatural, he comes back to life. I didn't know, I was angry. It was stupid, but I was frustrated. I was being blamed for things I did, but not for the reason you think. Elena is mad at me because her mother is a vampire, and Alaric is mad because I turned his wife to a vampire. I knew neither of them, had no idea who the woman is. To top it off, the woman is the same one. Isabel Flemming. The one who sent you the box." He watches, waiting for the blow up he has grown to expect.

Bella's comment shocks him to his very core. "And you were supposed to know that this woman is the mother of your brother's girlfriend or someone who is close to being your friend? Who are these people and what world do they live in? That would be like me getting mad at Carlisle for turning Emmett after finding out he is related to me. Which right now, wouldn't surprise me." She knows that she has surprised him, but then, he too has surprised her with the understanding of the choices she has made in her life. Whatever is happening between them is just as Damon said. It was a huge arrow pointing out each other to the other one, saying here is your perfect half, one who will stand by your side for the rest of your like, supporting you as you support them.

Grinning at her from his spot in a chair, drinking some scotch she had, Damon toasted her. "Exactly my point. But none of them understand." He is relieved, again, somehow, Bella understood. More than what he was saying. And it just made him more determined to make her his.

Bella shakes her head as she organizes the stuff on her desk as she thinks. "This is why I had decided that me being by myself would not be a bad thing."

Chuckling, he replies, "Until I came along." _'Please don't push me away'_ is the unsaid message behind his cockiness.

Rolling her eyes as she starts labeling the boards, "And how rare is what we are to your type?" And she answers his plea with the assurance she isn't. She is prepared to make him understand that she is really trying.

"Really rare, like only has happened a couple times in our history. And Sage was one of the first vampires turned, and the researcher of our type. Her history goes very far back." Is his quiet response.

Too quiet. Bella turns around and looks at him. "Spit it out, Damon. What's wrong?"

He looks at her and tries to put it into words, "I am worried, Bella. I cannot explain to you how it feels. Even the idea of something happening to you is enough to make me go all growly on you. Anything else is getting funneled into the storm." He gestures to the storm outside that is picking up strength with his worries.

She looks at him, taking in the pained look on his face. "Do you not want this?" _'Do you not want me?'_ was her unsaid words.

"No! Don't ever think that!" Damon is in front of her, her face cradled in his hands. "I'm worried more about you, how you are taking this. I _want_ this. I have never met someone like you that can take all this without batting an eyelash, and in fact has no problem getting into the trenches with me. But you pulling away from me, sending me out of your life, you getting hurt, you _dying_, is enough to make that storm outside." He is begging her to understand him. She is now his world. He has given into the Bond. That second was when he gave up the fight and became hers. Completely.

Bella stares at him and raising her hands to rest upon his, she turns her head to give him a kiss on his hand. "Damon, I told you that no matter what we will be friends. I cannot promise to not get hurt, because at one point I was very klutzy. I am more than willing to explore this with you. But how about this, for right now. If I am in danger, turn me." And she stares into his uniquely blue eyes, eyes that have captured her soul.

Damon stares at her, looking into her eyes, trying to determine if she is being truthful. He won't ask if she is sure, because she, of all the people out there, understands what she is getting into. But the chance to have the one person on the earth that is his other half, is willing to be turned?

Knowing how much of a shock this is to him, she tells him softly, "I choose you, Damon. I just told you I had decided to be alone in this world before meeting you. But I choose you to be with. At least friends, more if possible. Why would you think I would not want to explore this fully? To know that leaving you, may leave you alone in the world? Give me some credit, Damon." And with those few statements, the Bond has started to pull them together, tying one by one strings to them. Neither knowing that this was the pivotal point that their being together became reality.

He pulls her closer and hugs her. "I am scared. There I said it. Big, bad Damon is scared. I never felt this way about someone, and for it to come so quickly, is frightening. At least I know why. You were told before that you were the mate to someone, and that ended in a fashion that I would not be surprised by your reactions to be negative. Instead, to know you not only want me, but that you are willing to be turned? I-I don't have words for it." He rests his head on hers. The feeling in him overwhelming and he just needs her to be there in his arms.

Amazed as always at the sound of his heart beating, and the actual warmth she can feel from him, she doesn't resist the urge to cuddle into him. The sound that erupts from him, the light purring she feels more than hears makes her smile.

"I rendered you speechless. I think I should mark down the date somewhere."

His chuckles lightening the mood. He looks down at her, "You really want to be turned?" As soon as the words are out of his mouth, he flinches. He had told himself he would not second guess her, but here he is doing exactly that.

Bella smiles at him, understanding where the question came from really. "And if you want to be sure, you can give me your blood as often as needed to be sure."

He kisses her forehead as he holds her close. "I think I will take you up on that, after hearing your tales."

Bella hits him and he laughs. She turns in his arms to face the board. "One of the reasons I decided to get the second board is I had read something shocking today. It is what sent me out of the house today. I was trying to wrap my mind around it."

Damon nods, knowing from his watching that something had bothered her earlier enough to send her out of the house. "And?"

Walking out of his hold, she writes on the top of the board, 'Swan family tree. Aka Lebada.' And at the top, she writes Elijah Mikaelson then shows her Great-many times grandmother, Camilia Labada.

Damon stares at the names. '_It can't be.'_ He asks, "Do you have a picture of Elijah?"

She nods and turning to her computer, she brings up the picture she had scanned before shredding the original she had found stuck in between pages of a book.

Looking at it, and seeing his thoughts confirmed, Damon rubs his eyes and turns to pace. He tells her, "I told you we are in the process of researching something. That something is called the Sun and Moon Curse. This man keeps turning up and I suspect he is an original." This cannot be happening. His mate, his other half is related to the person who had single handily killed multiple vampires to keep him from finding more information on the originals and on the Sun and Moon curse.

Bella is thinking over what he said as she mentions, "The Sun and Moon curse is a false lead."

"What?"

The shock in his voice causes her to look up at him, "The Sun and Moon curse is false. There are many legends out there about a doppelgänger. They all have some truth in them, but they are false. The actual use of a doppelganger is to release someone named Klaus from the curse his mother placed on him. Supposedly he is Elijah's brother, but I haven't confirmed it. But I am not done with Isobel's information. Like I said I was shocked to find out about my family."

Damon turns to her, "What is shocking to you, stella?"

She looks at him and then draws on the board, the twins. One last name Moutin, the other Labada. "Do you know what Labada means in Romanian? Swan. They migrated here to the Americas in the late 1940's. My father had the family bible, and I read most of the line. We are not a family that has more than one child at a time. To find that we married back into the Moutin line who ended with my Grandmother as the last to carry the name, and now my father and I are the last of the line. Well I guess somehow I am. My mom had some Labada in her, not much, but I tracked it back to the line. So I am the last of this particular line." She shrugs, it not meaning much to her.

Damon's eyes widen, "Which may make you the only living descendant of Elijah or the Mikaelsons."

Bella nods. "I wanted to confirm it. It's unbelievable that both lines have been so small that they end with us." Or that her mom would also be related to her father so far back in the line. That she, herself was the culmination of the line.

Damon comments quietly, "You know, I can't have children? Just saying…" He cannot help it. He comes from a time that an heir and a spare was still predominant in the thinking of his generation. Carrying on the name and all of that.

Laughing at his face, she tells him, "After raising my mother and father, I want nothing to do with children if possible. This actually works in your case, Damon."

He grins, "We can always practice. Maybe I just need the practice to get it right." He closes in on her, pulling her back into his arms as he rests his head on hers, staring at the board in front of him.

The look she throws him as she steps away to make the final notes on the board makes him chuckle as she comments, "I think you have practiced many times. I was not kidding when I told you to go after a frat girl, they seem your type."

Damon pulls her back to him as he tells her softly, "Never again. After you, there is nothing, my carissa."

She smiles at him, "Damon, I-"

He lays a finger on her lips. "Shhh. I promise. And I don't make promises that I don't intend to keep."

Huffing slightly, she turns back to the books lying across her desk. "I have no idea where to start, tonight."

Damon smiles, "Then don't. Lock up the room, and we will go and talk. I have hundreds of years of stuff to tell you, and you have hundreds of years of information stuck in your head. I do have one question for you, Carissa."

At her look, he asks her, "Why do you rub your arm?"

She pales, and her hand goes to her arm. Damon gently grabs it, and pulling back the hand, he looks at what is under it. Then his visage darken, and his eyes turn blood red with the blue remaining, his veins black around them. His growl rolls out at the same time as the storm picks up in its fury outside.

"Who?" It is growled out, and there is no mistaking his fury as the lightning outside punctuates his question.

She answered him evenly, "That was where James bit me, and Edward sucked out the venom."

Damon takes a deep breath, then his eye flick to Bella's in shock as she touches his fangs. He stands totally still as she does so, his body trembling as she touches them. His eyes fade back and he kisses her fingers. "That was either foolhardy, or the bravest thing I have witnessed."

She locks gazes with him as she asks, "Why? You won't ever hurt me, right? And I was curious."

He smiles, "No, I will never hurt you. And feel free to be as curious as you like." The smirk she is guessing he is known for reappears.

She pushes him away and gathers the laptop from its place and puts it back away. She pauses, then asks Damon, "Please come here."

Without a pause, he is beside her. She takes his hand and tells him as she places his finger on the same spot as hers earlier, "I might as well put you into the system. You need to hold your finger here for 30 seconds lightly. The sensor in the wood will register your heat, or at least I am hoping it will. After that, press it harder and it will read your fingerprint." What she is not telling him is that this is also the system that will activate the touchpad for the security.

He smiles as the system registers him with no problem. "Smart for the body temperature." He watches as she puts the laptop inside. He turns and quickly organizes her piles back into where they were. He then bows, "My lady, if you would lead me?"

She grins and heads out of the room, she pauses and asks softly, nervously, "Damon, are you leaving tonight?"

He is by her side in a second, "Not unless you want me to."

She smiles, then heads to a picture that was part of a collage on the wall and taps the frame. It darkens into a keypad and she taps a number on it, glancing at him to make sure he is watching. Throughout the house, the rolling shutter close.

He chuckles, "You really love your gadgets don't you?"

Bella grins. "Yep."

She walks into the family room and before she can sit, Damon is there pulling her down into the chair on top of him. "You really love your abilities, don't you?" She retorts.

Damon laughs. "Yep." He grabs the blanket that is hanging off the side and wraps them into it. When they are both comfortable, he reaches for her arm again. His hands trace the mark, commenting, "It's cooler than the rest of your body." His voice is musing, as he tries to figure out why it is different.

She nods. "No idea why. Carlisle couldn't figure it out either. If there was venom, I should have changed. But there is no other reason. Jasper has never heard of someone doing that, and I can swear to it being an effective torture device if needed." She shudders from the memory of the pain.

He nods, as his finger continues to rub it. He then tells her softly, "I need to tell you about the others. I hate to say this, but they will try to turn you against me."

She murmurs, "They will fail. Damon, I'm stubborn."

He kisses her on her forehead as he mutters, "Don't I know it! It took some persuasion and not a little bit of charm to just get your name." His hand trails down her arms to her hand and entwines around hers.

She grins, "You were the one who became stalkerish. And don't think I haven't figured out the Raven is you."

He laughs. "I was drawn to you. What can I say?" He nips her throat. He cannot help it, he feels so much closer right now to her that he needs to touch, to _claim_ what is his.

She laughs, "And you think Edward was odd. He at least was there in person."

Damon grins as he is kissing her neck, "And you think I wasn't? The raven is not only my familiar, but often the animal I turn into the most. By the way, you need to give that contractor a bonus. He effectively kept me out of the house." He feels the vibration in chest starting again and just enjoys the moment.

Bella laughs, and they continue to spend the night, just getting to know each other better.

* * *

**Final count, 4,243 words.**

**Please leave a review. It really helps. But I will still write, however, longer times may occur. Also I am doing 9 stories at one time. If I get behind, please understand. I am working harder than you would realize to get you guys one a week. Also, on the site is the new banner for this story. We also use a different Bella. Leighton Meester is the actress we use. Look forward to your guys take on this chapter.**

**Fairfarren~Wendy**


	8. Chapter 7 I'm Bared Boned & Crzy 4 U

**Here is the next chapter of You're. It's fluffy! Thanks always to Alicia!**

**Disclosure: Twilight and Vampire Diaries are owned by their respective braianics that thought of it. **

**Pre Edit Count - 2,415 Words **

_Song I listened to for this chapter: Crash Into Me _by Dave Mathew Band.

* * *

_Previous:_

_He nods, as his finger continues to rub it. He then tells her softly, "I need to tell you about the others. I hate to say this, but they will try to turn you against me."_

_She murmurs, "They will fail. Damon, I'm stubborn."_

_He kisses her on her forehead as he mutters, "Don't I know it! It took some persuasion and not a little bit of charm to just get your name." His hand trails down her arms to her hand and entwines around hers._

_She grins, "You were the one who became stalkerish. And don't think I haven't figured out the Raven is you."_

_He laughs. "I was drawn to you. What can I say?" He nips her throat. He cannot help it, he feels so much closer right now to her that he needs to touch, to claim what is his._

_She laughs, "And you think Edward was odd. He at least was there in person."_

_Damon grins as he is kissing her neck, "And you think I wasn't? The raven is not only my familiar, but often the animal I turn into the most. By the way, you need to give that contractor a bonus. He effectively kept me out of the house." He feels the vibration in chest starting again and just enjoys the moment._

_Bella laughs, and they continue to spend the night, just getting to know each other better._

_Now:_

* * *

The early morning light creeps across the valley of Mystic Falls falling its easy light on the town and a plantation where two soul mates are lying in the protected confines of it. The two are entwined in each other, but the male holds the female in a safe cocoon of his body, as though he is protecting the most important thing in the world.

When Bella wakes, she is at first startled at the warm body holding her, but then relaxes back into Damon. She is rewarded by his arm tightening around her as he pulls her closer to him and him nuzzling her hair.

She smiles as she sleepily comments, "Do you know how awesome it is that you sleep?" her hand is playing with his arms as they hold her.

His voice husky from sleep, he answers her, "How boring would that be to be always awake? Then there will be no cuddling in bed. In fact, other than sex, what use is a bed?" He lazily smiles as he enjoys waking up with her in his arms. Last night had been wonderful as they had talked. Nothing more than talk, but he cannot remember an evening he has enjoyed more. But to fall asleep with her in his arms? Heaven…

She can't help but laugh at his lazy comments, "And that right there is why the hundred year virgin had no bed in his room." She remembers the shock when all she saw was a couch. And how that had actually made her think of never sleeping again if she became like him.

He laughs as he nuzzles her, "A virgin? After a hundred years? What is wrong with him?" Really. To have someone like Bella and not want to have her be his in every way possible? Mind Boggling. And he will have Bella as his.

Bella answers him as she turns to him, "Mind reading."

Damon kisses her on the lips gently then murmurs, "His loss, my gain. And I won't be stupid to lose you, my Carissia." (_Dearest_)He is studying her this morning, committing her face to memory, and knowing he will do it all over again every chance he gets.

She asks, "What happened to Stella?" She can see the growth of his chin hair and as everything else, is amazed that his body lives, as hers does, it just needs blood in addition to everything else.

He is smiling as he answers, "You mean more to me today. Don't worry, my stellina, you will always be the luce dei miei occhi. (_Light of my eye_)"

She looks up at him and asks, "And how are you still single? You're nothing more than a huge romantic." And mine….

He laughs again, as he tells her, "Because no one but one other person has seen this. And she threw it away for my brother." Strangely, the pain is lessoning from that betrayal and others like it over the years.

She quips back, "Her loss, my gain."

He pulls her on top of him as he grins up at her. "I can easily see us spending the rest of our life like this." One hand on her hip, the other is lazily stroking her body, enjoying it and the chance to feel her this way.

She is grinning back at him, relaxing into him and the magic his hands are doing to her body. Her head rests on his chest her hand helping her to look down at him. Then her brain kicks in and she starts to think, "Damon, if the Salvatores are a Founding Family, what are your connections to The Original Family? Isobel had commented on it. And where is your home?"

He sighs, "Out in the woods, a shell of itself. Stefan and I kept a member of the family in the boarding house. That is where I am living, with my brother, and his girlfriend." He would love to restore the house, and now that Bella is here, he might actually do it. Make new memories to replace the feelings and memories in the old one.

Remembering their talk last night, Bella goes over the people in his life. She laughs as she remembers which one is his brother's girlfriend. "The one that looks like both of your's ex."

"Yep."

She thinks on it, "How odd is that?" She couldn't even fathom it. To be so in love with one woman and loving his brother the same, he let her be with his brother. Then to have them both betray him. No wonder he has problems with trust.

Damon is rubbing her back as he thinks on his answer. He finally tells her, "Odd. I have no idea if the similarities drew me or the differences. Either way, I don't really think my brother loves her."

She glances down at him and asks, "What?"

He gazes at her as he tells her, "Stefan is enamored of Katherine. Always has been. And now that I found you, I can see what I had was the same as you did for Edward, an obsession, a fascination. Nothing like what I feel for you. I don't think it is love, yet, but I can see that happening. Stefan, is the tragic one, the one who always looks like he is pining. Elena can do better than him, but she is unwilling to be adventurous since her parents died. And nothing has happened since they have been together to allow her to grow past it."

Bella sighs, "Nothing is easy is it?"

He says softly, "We are. The others stuff will only affect us as much as we allow it. I have obligations I cannot allow to fall by the wayside, as much as I wish I could now. But if you don't-"

Bella silences him with a kiss. As they come up for air, his eyes search hers. "Damon, I will help. Besides, I think you need me. You would be still on that Sun and Moon curse if it wasn't for me." She gives him a cheeky grin as she looks down at him.

He smiles briefly, then his face get serious, "If you were serious about having my blood, then we will do that before you get involved. There are too many factors going on, and I don't want to take a chance."

She smiles, nodding. He sits up with her in his lap, turning her. With her back to him, he raises his wrist to bite, but before he can, he is stopped by her hand. He lifts an eyebrow at her.

She tells him softly, "If you are going to give me yours, then take mine." She has no idea why she feels strongly on this, but she does. If she takes his, he will take hers in an exchange.

Damon's head jerks back and then he says softly, "Are you sure, my Carissia?"

She shyly smiles as she asks, "Will it hurt?" At his negative answer, "then yes."

He stares into her eyes, and reading the truth, he raises his wrist, his fangs drop and he bites. He then offers it to her, his eyes closing in lust as she drinks from him. He kisses her neck, and finding the place he wanted, he carefully bites her. His eyes roll back completely at the taste of her. It is nothing but sweet ambrosia to him.

Bella gasps as she felt the slick pinprick of his fangs in her, but relaxes as all she feels is a gentle pull. After a minute, Damon licks her neck clean, not a drop to be wasted. When she went to stop, he entreats her softly, "Just a little more. I want to make sure you don't have a mark, carissia." When he is sure she won't mark, he lets the wound heal.

She falls back into his arms, and he pulls her close to him as he is leaning against the headboard. They both relax into each other. Damon's arms wrap around her closely, molding her body to his as he gets control over himself.

Damon tells her softly, "That was certainly different. And isn't there something you wish to tell me?" a smirk appears as he realizes what a gem he has found.

Bella blushes as she mutters, "Didn't want to embarrass myself."

He kisses her as he tells her, "I will be blunt, my carrisia. I love the fact that you are a virgin. And yes, to someone like me, I can tell the difference from your blood. But, I can also taste…something unique."

She snorts, "And this is when you go all caveman on me?"

Damon laughs. "Yes and no. You're mine. I don't think there is any question is there, mia carrisia?" At her nod, he continues, "All that means is that I will be your first and last. I will make sure of that."

Before she could retort, Damon's cell phone goes off. He groans, then lifting her and putting her to bed beside him, leans down to grab it out of his pants.

"Yeah."

Bella lifts an eyebrow at him, and he grins briefly.

Then he gets slightly irritated, "Well Daddy Stefan, I figured that being over a 140 years old and your older brother gives me the right to do what I wanted without informing you."

Bella laughs.

Damon then gets angry, "No, that is not one of my brainless twits. And no it isn't any of your business."

Noticing how angry he is at whatever Stefan is saying, Bella snuggles up to him. He automatically puts an arm around her holding her to him. He finally growls out, "Enough. I'll be home when I want to." With that he turns off the phone.

Snuggling into him, she quietly says to him, "He cares."

Damon snorted. "He's nosy. He also told me he knows the storm last night was me, and I should have more control than that. As if he knew what I was going through!"

Bella can't help herself, she laughs. When Damon looks at her as though he is offended, she asks him, "Think, Damon. How long ago would it have been that you would have had a brainless twit?"

He growls, "I told you that was the past, my carissia!"

Bella can't help but to laugh again. "Damon! I know. I am asking how do you expect your brother to understand? You told me yourself that it is rare!"

He pulls her towards him as he tells her, "I can't help it. As I said, I don't know how to explain this, but I can't let someone insult you. Bella. Mia carissia, please don't walk away." His voice is begging at the end.

Bella can understand where he is coming from, all his past relationships have pushed him away or left. No one seemed to want him for him. And then she comes along, a complete stranger, and something that is so rare that most of his kind have no idea about, happens to him. He finds his other half, and is now scared that all the things he did to get here will come back and bite him. He has been convinced by Elena and Stefan that he deserves it.

But Bella herself has been there. And she genuinely cares for Damon. She may not have the pull he does, but she does feel something for him. And like him, is not willing to let go of whatever this is between them. Like he said, it was more than she ever felt for Edward.

"Damon, look at me. I am not going to be walking away. I don't want you to be away from me longer than you need to be. I never wanted to be that couple, joined at the hip. But now? I can't imagine you not being here. It is fast, we both know this, but I think we are both old enough to know ourselves. So let it go. As long as we are happy, then what does it matter about the others? We will prove them all wrong and in a couple of hundred years, we can laugh at them."

With that, Damon grins. "As you say, Stella. Now, can I treat you to breakfast, mia cara?"

Bella quips back, "I can get used to this quite easily."

He kisses her forehead as he tells her, "That's the idea. Ruin you for anyone else." He gets out of bed, grabbing his jeans and putting them on.

Bella openly admires the form in front of her, as he puts them on. "Miles and miles, and all mine."

He grins, leans over the bed and kisses her. "Get moving, and I will have breakfast ready for you. Don't forget to unlock the house."

With that he is gone. Bella gets up and heads to the bathroom to get ready, calling out "Dave Mathews Band".

* * *

As promised, Damon met her in the kitchen with eggs, pancakes and bacon. She had unlocked the house and they headed outside to eat. Only when she was walking outside, did she pause and ask, "Damon, how are you outside?"

He passes her, dropping a kiss on her head telling her, "Magic."

Bella continues to the table and by the time she has set her meal down, Damon reappears with their drinks. "Magic?"

He pushes in her chair and sits in the one beside her as he waives his finger with his ring on it, "Magic."

He watches her until she starts eating then explains, "The ring has a lapis lazuli in it that has been spelled to allow me to walk in the daylight. I have a couple of these, especially since in the last year, a favorite trick of other vampires to confine one of us is to take the ring."

Bella stops and she incredulously asks, "That is what you are risking your life on is a ring?"

He chuckles. "It has worked since the beginning. Now that I am thinking about it, I may bring a couple of items over here just in case. I like to keep some hidden in different places. If that is alright with you." He cuts into his pancakes as he waits for her to answer.

Bella is just staring at him. "Yes, of course. Damon, if a witch can spell one of them to protect you, can't they just remove the spell?"

He sighs. "No, they can't unless they are the ones that spells it. By now I have a couple different witches that have spelled different rings and other items. I have cufflinks and different things. Like I said, I want to leave some here just in case." And he will also start acquiring a collection for Bella since she has already stated that she wanted to be turned. He will not risk his mate on chance.

Taking a deep breathe, Bella says, "I have so much to relearn."

He looks over at her, "Hey, look at me." When she looks up, he tells her, "We are in this together. So whatever you are thinking, you need to change that to a we."

She smiles as she chuckles. "It will take me a little while. I am used to thinking about and for me first."

He smiles at her, then continues to eat.

Watching him, Bella thinks about their conversations and then asks nonchalantly, "So does this mean you are going to move in?"

Damon chokes.

Bella is watching him as she proceeds to daintily eat another bite then asks innocently, "Too soon?"

Looking up at this woman who proceeds to surprise him at every turn, he tells her, "Nope. How soon do you want me?"

She grins as she takes another bite, "Today be too soon? I mean, I have this huge house and it is soo lonely. And who knows who could come in?"

Growling, Damon, pulls her into him for a kiss. "As soon as we are done, we can go grab some things."

And it was settled as easily as that. Too bad the world was going to intrude soon on their happiness.

* * *

**Final count, 2,971 words.**

**Please leave a review. 10 stories at one time. Your Reviews are the ones keeping this engine going. Thanks!**

**Fairfarren~Wendy**


	9. Chapter 8 I've Never Been Perfect

**New chapter and many thanks to Stilalia for her work! She writes also, so give her stories a try! Big changes are coming to how chapters are posted, more below. **

**Disclosure: Twilight and Vampire Diaries are owned by their respective braianics that thought of it. **

**Pre Edit Count - 3,898 Words **

_Song I listened to for this chapter: Leave Out All The Rest by Linkin Park._

* * *

_Previous:_

_Watching him, Bella thinks about their conversations and then asks nonchalantly, "So does this mean you are going to move in?"_

_Damon chokes._

_Bella is watching him as she proceeds to daintily eat another bite then asks innocently, "Too soon?"_

_Looking up at this woman who proceeds to surprise him at every turn, he tells her, "Nope. How soon do you want me?"_

_She grins as she takes another bite, "Today be too soon? I mean, I have this huge house and it is soo lonely. And who knows who could come in?"_

_Growling, Damon, pulls her into him for a kiss. "As soon as we are done, we can go grab some things."_

_And it was settled as easily as that. Too bad the world was going to intrude soon on their happiness._

_Now:_

* * *

After they cleaned up breakfast, Damon leans on the counter and asks, "So…how are we going to do this?" He isn't going to admit it in so many words, but he is eager for this. Bella is his future, and he cannot wait to begin it. And he suspects that leaving the house and being here, will be better for him all around. Brooding Stefan can be a real downer often.

Bella finishes wiping the counter and turns to him. "I don't know, go get your stuff, maybe have you write down what you want, I can send some people over to pack it for you. Why?" She too is eager for this to happen. Whatever this is between them is strong, and for once, she is not fighting it.

Looking at her, he shakes his head, murmuring, "What thing did I do that was so right to gain even the possibility of you, mia carissia?" He cups her face in his hand, his eyes searching hers for any doubt.

Bella laughs, "Maybe it was me who did the thing so right. I waited less than you to find you." She hopes that the doubt he is looking for never surfaces. Whatever pain this man has gone through is hopefully in the past.

He grins. " Touche, Carissia. I like your plan, however, I can pay for my own movers. You aren't with a pauper, cara." He says the last proudly, glad he is able to take care of his mate.

Bella laughs. "Well I didn't think I was, but that whole used to think about me? Ever since Twilight came out, I have been used to having to pay for things. And now, with this" she indicates the house and the money that came with it, "It's become an ingrained habit." She pays for anything to do with the Pack and her father. Even though that hasn't been for awhile, now that she is thinking on it.

Damon takes her in his arms. "Let me in, Bella. Let me take care of you. I promise to try to never hurt you, nor to take away your independence. But I _need_ to take care of you. Making you breakfast, making sure you never get to lost in your work that you forget to eat, I want this." He has always had this need to take care of people, but he has been hurt so many times. This time, he thinks, _hopes_ it will be different. It is because of this, that he is trying to show her what he is, how he is. He has the feeling he will not be able to take her rejection, that this one will break him.

Sighing and relaxing in his arms, where it really feels more like home than anything else, she tells him, "I will try, Damon. Just be patient." She listens to, what is for her a very welcome sound, his heartbeat.

He nods and kisses her head, "That I can be. Now, the more important question is, are you ready to face the firing squad?" He is uneasy about this, but she had been insistent about it. She told him that she didn't want to be away from him, and when he thought about it, he is the same. But he is not happy about her going with him, knowing how nasty that group can be. Though, it may just be time for them to know how nice he has been with them.

Bella laughs. "You know it is odd knowing that instead of them protecting you from me, they are going to be trying to split us up." She is grinning up at him, her eyes showing her mischievousness.

Damon growls, "I am glad you think it is funny. I'm more worried. This group is not above using magic to try to separate us, my carissia." And that there is the thing he worries about. Bonnie and her damn magic worries him. But she is sworn to protect human life, and Bella is as human as they come…

Bella looks up at him, "I really like to see them try. Now come, we have enough to do today. I really want to dive back into those books and see what we can find out." She is curious, and feeling like time is trying to run out on them. Which she is confused, they only met days ago, why is she feeling such a rush to settle their relationship?

He laughs, "You really love what you do, don't you? I think you and Alaric could be friends." As they walk out of the kitchen to the table where Bella usually leaves her keys and such. Last night, Damon had tossed his wallet there as they made their way to bed, not even thinking about it.

Bella shakes her head as she gathers her keys and slides her cards into her back pocket. She turns to him, "Now are you riding with me or flying?" And she grins at him, as she watches his wallet disappear into his jacket that he had just put on.

When he growls and jumps at her, she laughs as she tosses her keys to him. He grabs them out of the air and wraps an arm around her shoulders as he pulls her close for a kiss on her head. He opens the door to the garage, letting her pass first under his arm as he watches her and uses his senses to check the area around them.

"Wow, I got myself a gentleman!"

As he opens her car door for her, he teases, "An actual bona fide Landed Southern Italian gentleman. Since I am the eldest of the family, the plantation and the rest are mine." He is leaning on the door, as the garage door is opened, watching her get into her seat, then closes the door for her. He quickly vamps to the driver's door.

Bella bats her eye lashes at him as he gets in and starts the vehicle. He laughs at her as he adjusts the mirrors and the seat. Bella comments, "Use the second setting for yourself."

Damon glances at her and he replies, "You are really having no problem with this." His voice is soft, but there is happiness in it. Along with the wonder of how this could be for him. He starts the vehicle and backs them out, and is soon on their way.

Looking out at the window she tells him softly, "Damon, as amazed as you are by all this, don't you think I am in the same position. I could never be in a relationship because there was always the chance that someone would find out. And depending on the person, would depend if I had a chance to live. Now I have found someone that is perfectly matched for me, loves my snarkiness, and has no problems with the secrets and in fact tries to help me." She looks at him, "I never wanted to be lonely. And now you are offering me the chance to not only not be lonely, but to find love with someone I am genuinely finding appealing in every way, can you not blame me for not wanting to grab on?" Her voice is quiet, but strong. She means every word she has said, she is enjoying this connection with him.

He glances at her, "No. Not when I am doing the same exact thing." Or dancing a jig in his mind as he realizes that this is real, that she is here and his.

Bella nods. She then asks, "So do you need an extra refrigerator or what for the blood bags?" She has turned and her mischievous grin is hidden, but she just can't help it. She loves throwing him off course.

He laughs, startled into it, as he had been starting to plan what to do when he got to the boarding house and how to protect her. In short, he was starting to worry. "You know, you would think after you having the ability to shock me time after time, that I would be used to it. But I would need a freezer. But since Stefan can't handle human blood, I can have the one I use moved to the plantation."

Nodding, she asks, "What else will we need?" Honestly wanting to know what they will be needing, and how much she will be storing, or trading it back to the Boarding house.

Damon reaches out and holding her hand, admits, "Not much. I really didn't plan to stay here this long. I want to leave stuff at the Boarding house. And sooner or later move some of your clothes over there. You will never know when you might need another place. But really, there is not much. I will show you what I want to be moved, and if you agree, we will do so." He squeezes her hand as he thinks. Yes, he will defend this woman. She is his.

Bella chuckles. "Damon, I am not that attached to anything in my house besides the kitchen and my room. So if we do a switch out, it really won't bother me." Really not bother her. She will enjoy having their belongings mix together…

He raises her hand up and kisses it. "Oh and my car. That is a no gives thing."

Laughing, Bella told him, "There is a place for another car. I have my Corvette being delivered next week. But that is the beauty of the large garage, more room for cars." She is enjoying this, and it is making her feel so giddy actually.

He shakes his head as he maneuvers the Porsche into the driveway. As they pull in they can that there are a bunch of cars already here. Damon sighs. "Are you ready?"

Bella grins. "To meet your brooding brother, the woman who resembles your ex, the vampire that used to be your fuck and feed, the man that you killed his wife and a witch? Of course!" And oddly enough, there is no jealousy.

Shaking his head, he gets out and is by her door in a second. He opens it, telling her, "Now go easy on them. They all think they are acting in your best interest. Even though they have no idea that you are going to be there." His eyes are merry with his teasing.

She laughs, taking his arm as they walk to the door, he opening it and letting her preceded him as they walk through. He comments softly to her, "Do you think we can make it to my room before they intercede?"

"Damon!"

Bella shakes her head, "Nope."

* * *

Elena had been waiting with the rest of them for Damon. They wanted to know he was OK, and what had caused him to form the storm last night. It had frightened her when she realized exactly how strong Damon was. She knew he was cocky, and often acted like nothing could affect him, but to realize exactly why he can act like that is…offsetting.

Stefan had been upset when he hadn't come home and the weather had gotten worse. When he called him, he was even angrier that Damon had been with one of his sorority girls. Then shocked when Damon had defended the woman.

So now they are all waiting for him, trying to figure out what is going on with the vampire.

Stefan sat up then growls. "I can't believe he brought his trollop with him!"

Elena looks at him shocked.

Without a pause, Stefan calls out, "Damon!"

Imagine them all shocked as Damon comes in, with a beautiful brunette on his arm. And even more shocked when he took her over to a chair and seats them both in it. They sat there, then the brunette asks, "Well, who is going to shoot first?"

Elena frowns and repeats, "Shoot first?"

The brunette nods, "Yep. I figured out by the call and the way you guys are all lined up that this is a firing squad." At Elena's shocked look, she tells her, "Oh you may not be firing bullets, but the shots you are planning to say probably will end up hurting Damon just as much."

Stefan spat out, "What about you?" He is even more worried seeing Damon with the woman from the Grill. The one who couldn't be compelled…

She cocks an eyebrow at him, "I'm guessing you are Stefan, right? Well what about me? And don't think you scare me. Been there, dealt with a broody vampire, animal blood and all that, been bitten by a vampire of another type and so on." She is staring at them all with a challenge in her eyes. Damon is sitting there, enjoying the fact that someone, for once, is defending him of their own will. His arm around her tightens.

They all stare at her in shock. She shakes her head. "Let me see, we have pointed out the brother, the girlfriend who happens to be a doppelganger must be the one who looks shocked and hurt. The ex-turned vamp is Blondie, you are right Damon, she does looks like a Barbie doll. That leaves you two, the vampire hunter, who I need to talk to, and the witch who hates Damon." After a pause she asks, "Am I right?"

Damon throws back his head in laughter as he takes in their shocked looks. "Ahh, mia carissia, you are right on. But then I am not that shocked." Not with how she is on her research. He had given enough clues.

He then takes in Stefan and tells him, "Stefan, meet Bella. You might as well get used to her, she will be around for a long time." He is his brother, and he is now realizing that he would have never met Bella if Stefan hadn't made him finish the transition.

Elena feels like she has fallen into the twilight zone. "I don't understand."

Damon looks at her, and his eyes soften just a bit, then he looks at Bella and his face, for a second, shows his true feelings for her. And that look tells it all. He is completely taken with this woman.

Bella looks at her and smiles gently. "I'm Bella Swan. And I may as well get this out of the way. Per what Damon and I are finding out, I am related to an Elijah Mikaelson, and the last remaining descendant of him and Edward Moutin Sr. I am also the last LeBada or in English Swan. My father is alive, but he wants nothing to do with any of it. I dated a vampire not of the species you know of at the age of seventeen. It ended tragically, and I have been keeping to the background the rest of my life. I moved here after I graduated with my doctorates in English and Archaeology and my specialty is Supernatural. I take all those tales and make them fit the world that the general public knows about. Personally I gather information to try to keep myself alive since the other vampires left me alive in a world that has one rule, keep the secret. If someone finds out, either turn them or kill them." She shrugs, but for her this is her life.

They are all staring at her.

Damon had started to growl and held her closer. He hates when she admits the rule, and acts like it is not a big deal. He will kill to keep her.

She cocks her head and tells Alaric, "For some unknown reason, after I returned back to Dartmouth after seeing what changes needed to be taken at the Moutin Plantation, I had a box from an Isobel Fleming."

Both Alaric and Elena's eyes widen.

"I had no time to go through it really, but had seen the name Mystic Falls in it. I spent the time between then and now getting ready for graduation and getting the house here. When I moved in two days ago, I unpacked the box. After dinner, and meeting Mr. Don't-Take-A-Hint here, I went home and opened my last box, which is what she sent me. I found out some information about me personally, and about you, Elena."

Elena looks surprised as she asks, "Me?"

Bella nods. "You are the current Doppelganger. The Sun and Moon curse is false. It is to find the doppelganger, making the entire supernatural world be on the lookout for you. The real reason is that you are to die in a ceremony that will release a person called Klaus from a curse his mother placed on him. It is rumored that he is related to my ancestor, Elijah. But I am working on that."

Alaric speaks and asks, "How do you know all of this?"

Damon grins and looks at Alaric . "She is a badass researcher. You should see how organized she is. But that is what she does. She had come across variations of the Sun and Moon curse in the past and wondered why they were all alike. She researched it since it popped up often during her research for her thesis. But the information we are going through from Isobel is revealing a lot. Bella is going to want to pick your brain Alaric. If that is OK?"

Still looking stunned, Alaric nods.

Bella looks at all of them, "I am here to help. But, you have to understand that while I know tons about my vampires, shifters and even the Children of the Moon, well not as much as I like to, but there is quite a bit information I had found on them too. But your kind, and witches? Nope. I have quite a bit in my research that Damon is going to help me go through and see how much I discounted is actually correct."

Bonnie finally asks, "Why not ask us yourself?" She is offended that this woman thinks she is going to find out everything by books. Conveniently forgetting that is where most of her learning has come from.

Bella turns her head to the witch and asks, "Because will you help me even if I am with Damon?" She is frank, knowing the answer already from Damon's comments about the witch.

She turns her head to the rest of them. "You may not understand it, but you will not interfere with us. It won't work. Now before you all ask, let me tell you something. I have been trained to enhance a quirk in my head. I can't be compelled. If you want proof, I will allow Stefan to try right here." She is confident, even though she can feel Damon's body grow rigid at even the suggestion of him compelling her or someone else. He knows she can't be compelled, but for her to suggest another…

Alaric objected, "He is not a good test, he drinks animal blood and we all know Damon is stronger than him either way."

Bonnie humphed. "And Damon can compel someone not to be compelled. Only someone stronger than him can break it."

Elena hesitantly speaks up, "What about Elijah?" She ignores the way even saying his name makes her feel. She has been fighting this, this attraction to the man who had her kidnapped, then rescues her.

Bella's head turns to her. "Elijah… what is his last name."

Elena squirms in her seat, "I have no idea. But I can call him, if you would like."

Bella turns to Damon and raises an eyebrow. She has no idea what to do. Does she want to meet her possible ancestor?

Damon looks at his carissia, and he murmurs, "It is up to you, mia carissia. I will support you no matter what. If you want to meet him now, I will be here. If you want to do more research, I will be helping you and then standing with you when you meet him. Whatever makes you more comfortable."

Elena is shocked by the tenderness in Damon, the caring he is showing for this female. It makes her long for the same. She glances at Stefan.

Stefan is pissed. How dare Damon bring in a new person, a person who might endanger Elena? Their job is to protect her!

Bonnie is watching the two with surprise in her face. Damon is a killer, that she has no doubt about, but the way he has held, acted and been with the woman is not his normal behavior. Asking what she wants to do instead of telling her?

The so far quiet Caroline is just watching the two of them. She is alone in her estimation that this is what Damon has needed. And he has fallen hard for her, and for once, the other person feels the same for him. While she hated Damon for what he did to her, she also has realized the pain he hides from the rest of them on a daily basis.

Alaric is just wanting to find out what Isobel sent Bella and why.

Finally Bonnie asks, "You know he has killed and will do it again. He is a human drinker." She doesn't like this stranger, but she will try to warn her.

Bella laughs. "Finally. I thought this would happen a lot sooner, and that it would be Stefan who would try this." Then her eyes turn hard. "If you think that would scare me off, you have something else coming to you, witch. What Damon has done in the past, is in the past. Am I glad he took human lives to be what he is? Not really. But he is a vampire. I know firsthand how weak animal blood is to a vampire. I will never begrudge him his food, just as he would never begrudge me mine. You are reacting out of fear, and in a way you are doing what your body is programmed for. To put it basically, every type of creature out there has something that hunts it. Sadly, humans seem to be the top of the predator list for most of the animals in the world. But there had to be something else that hunted them, to restore the balance. There are more humans on this planet doing what they will because they believe there is nothing to take them out but each other. Nature itself called for the vampires. And that is maybe why there are two different types. Vampires have their foe, the Children of the Moon. So it all balances out. You as a witch, should know this I would think. From what I remember, the witches are all about balance."

Bonnie stares at her and she cries out, "But he kills humans!"

Bella retorts, "And you kill bunnies and Bambi whenever you send a vampire to drink animal blood. And even Humans if you kill their source for food!"

She turns to Stefan, "I know you are different, Stefan and there is a real reason for you to not partake of human blood, but do you not need to feed more than Damon?"

He reluctantly nods to her.

Bella nods, "As did the veggie vamps that I knew did the same. Now because of that, they could easily depopulate the surrounding area of the wildlife. And whatever they hunt, because they went after the carnivores since they are closer to humans, which allowed the wildlife that should be kept in check to go out of control which kills the surrounding forest. It is a lethal cycle that exists because 7 vampires refuse to be themselves. They also are more likely to attack a human because they are consistently hungry. Been there done that, have the scars to prove it."

Bella rubs her arm, and Damon places his hand on it. She smiles and then turns back to Bonnie, "So if you are asking me, I want you to know that I fully support my boyfriend eating what he needs to never attack me or my friends."

Alaric is taken aback by what she has told. It makes total sense, but then…"So you are saying I shouldn't hunt Vampires?"

Bella laughs, "Obviously you have levels. You probably hunt the irresponsible ones. Go for it." Then her eyes turn hard, "But don't come after me and mine."

Stefan is just shocked. His mouth keeps opening and closing.

Bella takes pity on him. "Stefan, one vampire who is careful about hunting is fine. I knew 7 who did it sometimes every day. From what I gather from Damon, you even eat the bunnies. You have a reason for it. You are a ripper. And if this is the way you maintain control, then that is fine. Just don't condemn others that are doing their jobs."

Bonnie stands up, angry. "Who the hell are you to judge us?"

Bella shot up and is in Bonnie's face, "I am the one that is being judged. Damon is the other. Just because your grandmother was killed, is not Damon's fault. He had no idea what opening that vault would do. And he does regret it. But you have it set in your head he was the bad guy, and because he feels guilt, he allows you to heap it on him. For you to attack him with your head trick. But that ends now. Get on with your life."

Bonnie's eyes flash and Damon dives out of the chair to get to Bella, but before he can, Bonnie falls to the ground screaming.

Stefan is by her side and glares at Bella. "Stop it!"

Bella shakes her head. "I told her that I had a quirk. That quirk allows my head to belong to me. So whatever she is suffering from, she tried to do to me. Poetic justice, I believe."

She moves to Damon's side and he pulls her to him, holding her close. "I believe that has been enough of the Grill Bella time for today." He running his hand down her back, and unknown to all but Stefan, his chest is doing that purr that it had done last night. "I am going to be with Bella, we will be out of your hair here shortly." With that he moves, and before they realize what he is doing, they are both gone and a door slams upstairs.

Elena is by Bonnie's side as is Caroline. She looks to Stefan, "Will she be alright?"

Stefan opens a vein, forcing Bonnie to drink it. His words are clipped as he tells her, "Once she heals she will be. What she does is cause our synopsis to misfire. It hurts like hell for us, but could possibly kill a human. Luckily she stopped sending it when it bounced back to her."

Caroline shakes her head, "I've told her in the past to watch doing that, one of these times it will be visited back on her. Stefan what is Bella?"

Alaric is the one who answers her, "A shield. They are a rare being, so rare I have not heard of one in centuries. But Bonnie's attack shows that she was right, she cannot be compelled, nor can anything get in that head of hers."

Stefan looks at him, "Are you sure? That she is with him because she wants to be?"

Caroline snaps at him, "Stefan! There are times you show the infamous Salvatore indifference. And this is one of them. All Damon has wanted all his life is for someone to want him for himself. And here is someone who is doing that. Stop being hateful towards him."

Damon's voice comes from the doorway, "Don't worry, Barbie. It will take a while. Alaric, Bella would like you to join her sometime at her home. She wants to share with you what Isobel has sent her. Elena, you are welcome, but I warn you, it is all research material."

He looks at them all and smirks, "Now, I am going home with that awesome woman, and I bid you adieu!" With that he leaves.

* * *

**Final count, 4,851 words.**

**Leave a review! And this is going to be a big A/N...**

**There is a character list added for you guys too (that has a teaser pic in it for the newly written chapter!) And yes, you heard it, I wrote a new chapter for this! You will have to wait until this catches up for new chapters. But they are being written!**

**I also went through all the chapters to add the buttons to them on WordPress, as well as the theme for You're (Water and location). I also replaced pictures of Bella so they are all showing the same person.**

**In addition, I am doing a change on how the Beta's and I go about our work. In the background, I have been editing chapters and sending them to Betas starting on Wednesdays. But, this has made me unable to write. I need a break like everyone, and I was getting to the point I was working everyday, OR editing. I was burning myself out from the computer, but my obsession was not letting me rest, wanting to write! My editing is going back through the story and adding words to make it flow better. I leave the grammar and punctuation to the Betas, unless I find it, then I try to correct, but it is not why I am editing.**

**Starting this week, I am editing more than one chapter, but the betas will only press publish after Wednesdays. They will notify me, and I will do my part, but I will only edit when I don't have a muse pushing me. This will also lower my stress down, since I really do worry about updating you guys.**

**What does this mean for you? More regular chapters, but until I get this all organized, and allowing my muses to write, I will be behind in posting for a little bit. Give me some time, and I am trying! ED and ITE are the only ones on the rotation thingie, and I will probably run out of edited chapters for them before I can settle into this. But I cannot do what I was doing anymore. Nothing was being written and for stories like What If and When I Pretend, I could never get ahead. Now I can do this.**

**So enjoy this chapter… I am off to do one of the stories… And no, the edited versions will not show up on this story until Wednesdays at the very soonest**.

**Fairfarren~Wendy**


	10. Chapter 9 Dream of Paradise

**Thanks to Alicia my awesome beta! Check out her stories! They are linked on my WordPress page and her name is Sitalia25!**

**Disclosure: Twilight and Vampire Diaries are owned by their respective braianics that thought of it. **

**Pre Edit Count - 3,177 Words **

_Song I listened to for this chapter: Paradise _by Coldplay.

* * *

_Previous:_

_Elena is by Bonnie's side as is Caroline. She looks to Stefan, "Will she be alright?"_

_Stefan opens a vein, forcing Bonnie to drink it. His words are clipped as he tells her, "Once she heals she will be. What she does is cause our synopsis to misfire. It hurts like hell for us, but could possibly kill a human. Luckily she stopped sending it when it bounced back to her."_

_Caroline shakes her head, "I've told her in the past to watch doing that, one of these times it will be visited back on her. Stefan what is Bella?"_

_Alaric is the one who answers her, "A shield. They are a rare being, so rare I have not heard of one in centuries. But Bonnie's attack shows that she was right, she cannot be compelled, nor can anything get in that head of hers."_

_Stefan looks at him, "Are you sure? That she is with him because she wants to be?"_

_Caroline snaps at him, "Stefan! There are times you show the infamous Salvatore indifference. And this is one of them. All Damon has wanted all his life is for someone to want him for himself. And here is someone who is doing that. Stop being hateful towards him."_

_Damon's voice comes from the doorway, "Don't worry, Barbie. It will take a while. Alaric, Bella would like you to join her sometime at her home. She wants to share with you what Isobel has sent her. Elena, you are welcome, but I warn you, it is all research material."_

_He looks at them all and smirks, "Now, I am going home with that awesome woman, and I bid you adieu!" With that he leaves._

_Now:_

* * *

When Damon had whisked Bella upstairs, he had deposited her on his bed then proceeded to check her for any damage. When she caught his face, it is worried. "You felt nothing?"

Bella grabs his face and holds him in front of her, where he can see her eyes as she talks to him. "Damon, I am fine. Edward couldn't read my mind, you can't compel me. I am fine." She wants that look gone from his face.

Damon kneels beside the bed, pulling her towards him. "Mia Carissia, my heart dropped when I realized what she was doing. It can kill a human!" His heart is in fact beating stronger than normal, and she realizes how scared he must have been.

Bella shakes her head and states to him, "But I am fine. And if it did kill me, your blood is in me. I would just turn. Now, please get the things you need to, and let's leave. I've had enough of these people. Alaric and Elena are welcome to my home, no one else." Her voice turned hard at the end. How could these people expect Damon to be a better person when they treated him like this?

Damon nods, willing to do whatever she wants right now. He can't explain how scared he was to her. He had realized that as much as he tells himself it is too soon for love, that moment told him that he truly loves this woman in front of him. The thought of her not here had terrified him. Getting his mind back to the here and now, he informs her, "Unless you ask them in, the vampires cannot enter your home." And he will be looking at options for when she does turn. If this is a worry, he will fix it.

She looks up at him, as she watches him grab a bag and start packing. "So you are safe if you are in the house too?" She does not want others in their home. She needs him to have a safe place, one he knows that will not be attacked in.

He nods as he uses his vamp speed to pack. He also manages to grab his cuff-links and other items that he has collected over the years, including a ring he had bought when he had his current ring done. The spells are a rare combination and should help protect the recipient of it. He grins as he grabs that one. He actually has someone that he wants to give it to. He also, knowing Carol Lockwood, grabs his suits and have them on the bed, along with some other items.

Bella is watching the blur and when he disappears from the room to another, she follows him and stops. "Wow." The room in front of her is amazing. She had seen a lot of bathrooms when she had looked for ones for her own, but this is amazing.

The whole room was painted in cream, but his open shower was surrounded in stone. The large bathtub looked comfortable for two. The whole room gave the impression of masculinity. She could feel comfortable here, and it just gave the impression of Damon.

Damon came to a stop in front of her, "Like?" His eyes as always, searching her face. He can't ever get enough of her. Every time he could, he rememorized her face, comparing it to his perfect memory of the prior time.

She grins up at him, "Very."

He leans down and tells her in her ear, "We can always stop back here one day and use it…" His eyes gleaming as he thought of her naked with him.

Bella laughs, "While it is nice, not that nice. Not when I have a perfectly good bathroom of my own." She is very amused. But she will not come back here for a bath when they have a perfectly good tub at her house. It's not worth the remarks from the others.

Damon leans down, cupping her face in his hands, kissing her slowly. When he is done, he then asks, lips brushing hers, "Hopefully we can make use of it together soon?" His eyes looking into hers.

Bella blushes.

He chuckles, then leans forward to kiss her on her forehead as he informs her, "When you are ready, mia carissia, when you are ready. We have all of eternity at our feet."

Bella teases him, "And I have a feeling once we start, there will be no stopping you." Looking up at him with her trust showing in her brown eyes, and she can see his soften in reply, his hands gentle on her face as he stares down at her.

Mischievous eyes sparkle as he loftily says, "Oh, I hope it is more than me wanting it." Seeing her grin in answer, he kisses her and then continues his packing.

After a couple of minutes, of vamping, but teasing her with little kisses on her neck or other places as he packs, he tells her, "I'll meet you at the car. I will grab enough bloodbags for a couple of days until the movers come." She nods and takes her keys from him. He disappears just as fast, taking a lot of stuff down to his car. He had already deposited a lot in her SUV.

As she comes down the stairs, she hears him talking to the group in the room still. She shakes her head and caught his head nod to go ahead out. She grins, and slips out of the house. She didn't want to deal with them no less than Damon wants her to see them. Shaking her head, she wonders how they will take him leaving them to be with her.

She got into the Porsche, hitting her setting after making sure that Damon's is programmed in. She starts her vehicle and left. She knows he is worried, and wanted her away from the group so they couldn't hurt her again. She is worried about him leaving, but knows that he is much more powerful than they realize. She gets the impression that no one really knows how powerful he really is, and she for one didn't mind that at all.

She pulls into the garage, leaving the door open for Damon's car when he gets here. She opens the back of her SUV and shakes her head. He brought everything he thought he needed to be the well-dressed vampire. She grabs some of the clothing and proceeds to bring it into the house and into their room.

Luckily she had just moved in, so it is no difficulty to add his stuff. She had basically built a room for a closet, not wanting to see dressers or such in her room. This left tons of room for clothing, which is good since she is getting the impression Damon is a clothing hog. But she also has a feeling that he will be fun to shop with. He is a much more laid back dresser in his life, but the suits she saw tells her he cleans up quite well.

With a smile on her face as she tries to imagine Damon in a suit, she heads back out to the garage just in time to see Damon pull in with his classic Chevy Camaro. She laughs in pure delight as he shuts off the car. Her love of the classics will go well with him.

He is by her side at the same time the door shuts on the car. "What is so funny?" As he takes the clothes out of her arms.

She just shakes her head and tells him, "Wait until you see mine. I have a funny idea you are going to want to drive it. It is the only thing I splurged on when I got the first check for Twilight." She just grabs more of the clothes from the back. She knows he could probably unpack the cars in less time it will take her to take these upstairs, but she wants to help him move in.

He grins down at her. "I can't wait to see what you consider a splurge. Now, let's get the rest of this in, and settle me in." He nods with his head for her to proceed him. He has never enjoyed a move more in his life.

Bella grins as she heads into the house, with him following her closely behind her.

* * *

Later that night, after a fun dinner of the two of them working in the kitchen, Damon and Bella are in the library trying to make sense of the books Isobel sent them.

Bella sighs as she mutters, "Could it hurt to _not_ write in a freaking book? This is the third one, and I need to go page by page not to miss anything!" She drops the book on the desk as she rubs her face. This is becoming so much more difficult than it really needs to be.

Damon chuckles. "Now here I thought you were a good researcher and read every page." He is settled into another chair with books around him as he sips some scotch. "I need to get some alcohol." He mutters.

Bella looks up and asks, "Why do you drink so much?" She has noticed that he has added wine to their dinners, and even now, often has an alcoholic drink with him. She remembers him drinking at the Grill when she met him.

He looks up with a smirk. "Besides being Italian?" at her snort he informs her seriously, "Like food, alcohol helps with the lust. It actually helps better. And to be frank about it, it helps blend in. Not eating nor drinking sticks out."

Bella nods as she comments, "That was the first thing that set me off. Emmett is huge, and he never ate in the school. They would buy lunches, but never eat them." She remembers her watching them and how that had stuck out to her the most.

He chuckles. "Torment from hell, High School never ending. I can't think of a worse punishment." He shakes his head. Stefan going through High School again had him teasing him relentlessly. Even though he started to be close to Elena, it still had made Damon's day when he had rolled into town and found his little brother as a high school student.

Laughing as she makes another note to the database. "I thought so to. To tell you the truth, I am glad I met you now. We are about or are the same age. And neither of us can be taken as high school students." She shudders as she thinks on going through high school for the rest of her life. Nope she rather be older and not mess with school anymore.

He nods as he is reading another page. Then he frowns. "Bella, you said you are also looking for more information on Elijah and the rest right?"

Bella's head came up. "Yep. And also about Isobel's note on that all the Founding Families are connected back to them." She had connected them all, but there were some missing the connection, like Damon's own family.

He looks up at her and reveals to her, "The Salvatores are not connected to the Original Family like the rest, but it seems you and she are right. Seems that Esther, the witch mother, is from our family line." His voice held a sneer in it, letting all know what he thinks on it.

Bella laughs. "And you sound so happy about that."

Damon shakes his head. "I hate witches."

Bella got up and from the tree she had of lineages, she drew a line from Esther and added the Salvatores. "You were the last line we couldn't connect." She says as she backs away and looks at the tree. Part of her is happy that Damon is not related to her in any direct way. From what they are reading, for some reason, the founding families have interconnected over the years making for more of a web than a family tree.

He mutters, "And it could have stayed that way. But at least she is from an offshoot, so I am not directly related to her." From what he is reading from the notes Isabel had of them, they were a remote offshoot. In fact she thought how odd it was that his family had settled in the same area, not having a link as most did.

Bella laughs, "Try being me who is a descendant of them all?" She looks over her shoulder at him as she comments.

He nods, "But that is ok, I forgive and love you anyways." His face is still in the book, but he is watching to see her reaction at his comment. He is telling her the truth, and wonders how she will take it.

Bella throws an eraser at him as they laugh. She stares at the tree on the board and comments idly, "It is odd that so many related to them did find their way here. I wonder why?" Marking it as something she will look into if the books don't give her the answer before then. It is something odd for them all to be here.

She shakes her head, and goes back to the books. Damon asks, "Why are you so upset about the books?" It is something that has made him wonder since she had exploded on it.

Snorting, Bella explains, "I read the books that were reproduced off this original. So that is why I don't need to read every page, but I need to since sometimes she makes notes on things that have nothing to do with the book." She is grumbling at the end, as she is turning the pages and reading the notes on the side to see if it had any information for them.

That information has Damon's head look up, "Like she was trying to hide the information?" He has done the same when he has written down anything. Unlike his brother and Elena's diaries, his is basically for him to refer back for information. And the information is buried in a code of what looks like drivel.

Thinking, as she sits back in the chair, "Yeah. Didn't think of it that way at first, but you could be on to something." She rubs her face as she lets the information settle that there may actually be a method to Isobel's madness.

He laughs at her as he settles to read. Unlike Bella, he has to read the information to determine if the writing on the side is notes on it or information not related to it.

Before they can get much further in their pursuit, the doorbell sounds. Bella turns to the computer that is on the system and looks. She sighs. "More drama it seems." Just what they wanted after today. And tonight had been so relaxing!

Damon is beside her and growls. He had enough of the group earlier and like Bella, had been enjoying the quiet break for them. With this in mind, he heads to the door and opens it to Alaric, Elena and Stefan.

He tells the two, "You two can come in, Stefan can't." He is nothing but blunt in his wording. Tonight was to be the two of them relaxing.

Stefan gets pissed and is going to say something when Bella's voice comes through. "He's right. Stefan, you are not invited in. I can't have any vampires allowed in that may want to hurt Damon. So far you have not impressed me." Her voice is hard, as she is walking up to the door.

By the end of the conversation she is standing beside Damon. "Besides, I heard Damon saying who is allowed, and you were _not_ invited. The other two are only because of their connection to Isobel."

Stefan stares at her, as he bites out, "You trust Damon, but not me?" He is the good brother. How can she not trust him and trust Damon?

Bella nods. "And how you are acting right now is the reason for it. Go hunt, Stefan. Take your time. Hopefully we will be done before you are through." She is unrelenting to his stare, and notices Damon place himself in front of her, just in case.

Elena pauses, then walks through the door, Alaric following. Stefan tries but he is repelled from the house. The growl from him making Elena only glance back as she makes her way past Bella.

Bella shakes her head and closes the door on him, his last view is of Damon's smirk.

* * *

Alaric and Elena look around then both jump a little as Bella walks past saying, "Follow me."

They follow her to a huge room filled with books. A fire is going on in the fireplace which helps warm the cold room. They can see the desk organized with a book open as well as a laptop and another computer.

Sitting cattycorner is a leather chair with a side table and books around it. On the table is Damon's ever present glass of alcohol along with another open book lying next to it.

There are whiteboards scattered around the desk and chair along with some comfy looking leather chairs scattered around the room.

Bella glides into the room and slides into the chair behind the desk. She sighs then tells them, "Look around. The whiteboards have some interesting things on them. When Damon comes in, we will talk." And with that, she ignores them as she gets back to the book she is working on. Her aggravation clear, but they have no idea what she is upset on.

Alaric and Elena look at each other, but Alaric recognizes the same thing his ex-wife was. A scholar. The thing is, he never thought of Damon as being one. But it is obvious with the set up that Damon is helping Bella out, and if he wasn't he wouldn't have been in the room set up as he obviously is.

Alaric heads to the boards and is shocked to see a family tree. On it are all the founding families, with notes on how they are related to the Original Family. Damon's voice comes from the front of the Library. "It's amazing isn't it? The Salvatores are the latest find."

They look at him and he is walking towards Bella with a cup in his hand that he hands her, then collapses in his seat.

Bella smiles as she drinks her tea. Damon has been taking care of her all day. Making sure she eats and is well hydrated. He started the fire when she had rubbed her arms. He is keeping up what he had told her earlier. He wants to take care of her and he makes it seem as nothing. She loves it.

Elena smiles as she watches Damon. She looks back at the tree and asks softly, "What is the Gilberts relationship?" Wanting to start somewhere, and hopefully distract Bella from whatever is making her upset.

Bella looks up and informs them, "Ask Damon, he has sussed out all that." Her eyes glow as they land on him, proud of him.

Damon grins, then moves to them. He taps the board. "Technically Elena, you have two relations to the Original Family. It is thought that you are related to Klaus. Elijah and he competed for Tatia's attentions, but Klaus had won. Esther didn't like her and used her as part of the spell that made them all vampires. Then after that, Klaus still didn't give her up, she killed her to seal Klaus. From what, we haven't found out. But per the laws of witchiness, there had to be a solution to break it since it was not natural. We found mention of a child of Tatia's and from there the Petrova line of Doppelgangers are born." He is proud of their work, and is showing it.

Both Elena and Alaric also notice how attentive he is to Bella. He has himself positioned in a way to be able to watch her, but also watching them. This is new to both of them, he wasn't this way with Elena.

Bella mentions from where she is reading, "Nature will always make sure there is one of you around. Katherine Pierce or rather Katherine Petrova is your direct ancestor. She had a baby out of wedlock." And she too is watching these two with Damon.

Alaric is just amazed by the work in front of him. "This is amazing." Not even Isobel was this organized.

Damon grins at him, "Isn't she?"

Bella waves her hand as though it was nothing. She frowns and curses under her breath. She turns to the laptop and types in there, frowning and muttering as she reads the results. "No offense, Alaric, but your ex-wife needs to be shot!" The pure anger in her voice is a shock from her usual tone.

Alaric raises an eyebrow.

Damon tells him as he watches her, "Isobel had the bad habit of writing in rare books. And often on stuff that is not in them. It infuriates Bella." And the smile they had seen earlier, is still there. As well a slight look of wonder as if he is still unbelieving of what is happening.

Elena laughs. "Nice to see you are normal."

Bella raises her head and looks at the teenager. "I am normal."

Elena, stutters, "I mean-"

Bella shakes her head and runs her hands through her hair. "Sorry. This is driving me nuts and everything is gaining on me. I feel like we are running out of time, and no idea why. There is something coming, and I can't find out where I read it from."

Damon moves behind her and rubs her shoulders. "Do you remember anything about it? Maybe we can help?"

Bella closes her eyes when he puts his hands on her. "It has to do with the Doppelganger. I read it in the past, but discounted the words since I thought it was some of the nonsense crap I had found before. Now it is driving me nuts! Who would have thought all this was real?" Her hands rub her face then she lets her shoulders fall under Damon's hands.

Elena thinks about what she said and asks, "But that is the thing. I have been finding out that everything is rooted in truth somewhere. You know that since that is how you know that the Sun and Moon curse is a lie. That makes us miles ahead of the average supernatural person. I don't know what you think, Bella, but to me, it is looking more and more like we need to speak with Elijah."

Bella sighs. "I know. Go ahead and call him." Her shoulders tense, and so does her muscles. She is so not looking forward to meeting this mysterious man, but it is looking as though there is no help for it.

Damon pulls her closer to him, as Elena pulls out her phone. She hits the number and pretty much as soon as she calls, Elijah answers. "Elena, to what pleasure do I owe for this call?" His voice is pleasant and holds the old world charm to it.

Elena smiles and replies, "Hello, Elijah. I have a new friend who would like to meet you. Do you know where the Moutin Plantation is?"

Silence came from the phone, and then a question, "Is the person the rightful owner of the plantation?"

Elena looks up with the question in her eyes, Damon nods yes. "Yes."

Elijah sighs. "I'll be there momentarily. I take it you will be there?"

Her smile grows bigger as she answers, "Yes." She can never explain how much she enjoys being around him. He makes her feel cherished and safe in a way that neither Salvatore brother had ever achieved. Though she suspects from the way Damon is being around Bella, that he has made a choice. And she is really happy about it, he deserves it. Elijah's voice brings her back to the conversation.

"Excellent. I look forward to seeing you shortly." With that he hangs up.

Damon is looking at Elena, as is Bella. But the difference is the thoughtful look on Damon's face and Bella's has the look as though she has been answered something she had wondered about.

Bella sighs. "I guess another vampire will have access to my home." She leans back on her vampire, knowing, that he will protect her.

Damon looks down at her, "I am sorry mia carissia." And he is going to find out how he can make her home safe even when she turns. He does not like the fact that others have permission to come in.

She laughs as she looks up at him, her feelings plain as can be in her eyes. "It's your home too."

Elena eyebrows lift. "Damon is living here?" Her voice is surprised. The two in front of her are moving quickly.

Damon looks at her, "Yes. She asked, I accepted." His tone said not to question it.

Bella reaches her hand up and covers his. "Damon."

He looks down and shakes his head. He tells her softly, "You will have to invite Elijah in, I can't as the vampire, Stella."

She looks at the monitor on her desk and sighs. She is watching for the arrival of their guest.

He tells her softly, "I'll be here. Nothing can make me leave, mia carissia. And you have the proof, your father sent you the last of it and the rest was here in the library. You can back the claim. What are you worried about?"

Bella looks up at him. "He is almost the ultimate ancestor."

Elena looks up in shock, then her face softens. "You are worried what he will make of you." She can understand that feeling. Of knowing she will be measured up to something and not know if she will pass.

Bella nods.

Damon shakes his head, "He will think the wonderful woman you are. And if not, who needs him? You have your father and me. What else does a woman want?" He keeps trying to remind her of her father, but he has gotten the idea from Bella that somehow, they have said goodbye to each other. He is not sure why her father would do that, but when he has a chance, he will get to the bottom of it.

Alaric and Elena laugh with Bella. "I guess with that list, I don't need anything else."

Damon kisses her head and tells her softly, "Showtime, stellina." He saw the blur and sees the vampire now at the door.

The two of them leave the room as the doorbell sounds.

Alaric shakes his head as he looks at Elena, "Who would've thought?"

Elena breaks out of her thoughts and answers, "I did. But I was told I was a dreamer and that Damon is no longer human at all. Obviously they were wrong." She turns back to the family tree in front of her and asks softly, "What else were they wrong about?"

Alaric had no answer for the young woman in front of him.

* * *

**Final count, 4, 881 words.**

**Please leave me a review! It does keep me going. Right now I am working on this story to get into rotation. I have up to chapter 15 posted on WordPress, and am trying to get here caught up before I post new ones. Wanna give my beta a chance to catch up!**

**Also one of my other Betas has started a Damon/Bella fic! It is awesome and I can't wait to read more. It's called Thirsty for Your Love. s/9301796/1/Thirsty-for-Your-Love Even though the link (even though it is a FanFiction link!) will be taken out. **

**Fairfarren~Wendy**


	11. Chapter 10 Will Give U The Strength 2 Go

**Yes! Awesome beta Stilia25 got this out to us! Enjoy!**

**Disclosure: Twilight and Vampire Diaries are owned by their respective braianics that thought of it. **

**Pre Edit Count - 2,719 Words **

_Song I listened to for this chapter: Robot Boy _by Linkin Park.

* * *

_Previous:_

_Damon shakes his head, "He will think the wonderful woman you are. And if not, who needs him? You have your father and me. What else does a woman want?" He keeps trying to remind her of her father, but he has gotten the idea from Bella that somehow, they have said goodbye to each other. He is not sure why her father would do that, but when he has a chance, he will get to the bottom of it._

_Alaric and Elena laugh with Bella. "I guess with that list, I don't need anything else."_

_Damon kisses her head and tells her softly, "Showtime, stellina." He saw the blur and sees the vampire now at the door._

_The two of them leave the room as the doorbell sounds._

_Alaric shakes his head as he looks at Elena, "Who would've thought?"_

_Elena breaks out of her thoughts and answers, "I did. But I was told I was a dreamer and that Damon is no longer human at all. Obviously they were wrong." She turns back to the family tree in front of her and asks softly, "What else were they wrong about?"_

_Alaric had no answer for the young woman in front of him._

_Now:_

* * *

Damon opens the door and smiles at Elijah. "Elijah, what an honor to meet you."

Elijah stares at the vampire in front of him. He had heard that he was in town, and that he is reckless, yet one of the most powerful in the world. He beats Sage who is the first turned vampire and is told to be able to rival an Original.

He nods to the other vampire, then informs him politely, "I was asked to come here."

Damon stares at the Original. He is fighting his urge to snarl at someone that could hurt Bella. She is his, and he won't allow anyone to take her away from him. He finally nods back at him, and Bella comes up beside him. "Hello Elijah."

Elijah looks shocked. Without thinking, he steps forward and cups her face. He says softly "Camilia."

Damon and Bella are both shocked that he could walk right in.

Elijah realizes after a second what happened and he smiles softly, "Blood of mine, only one descended of our blood can enter."

Damon growls as he asks, "Klaus?" This is not someone he wants to be able to enter their home without warning. Elijah is bad enough.

Elijah shakes his head. "No. It's the magic that determines this, and she is my descendent. Mine and Camilia's. Only one who is of the same line can enter without permission." And he is just staring at this daughter he has been searching all his life for.

Bella nods. "That makes sense. Or Stefan could have entered when he tried." She is trying to be calm, but she isn't going to lie, having Damon beside her is a great source of strength for her.

Elijah's lips lift in a snarl. "The Ripper?" He looks up at Damon, "You allow her near the Ripper?" He cannot believe that this vampire will be so cavalier of the danger for the treasure in front of him.

Damon snarls back, "Not without me there. She is mine!" His face is darkening, not backing down from his claims. She is his, and he will defend her.

Before they can start to fight, Bella's eyes blaze as she informs Elijah, "Back off. This is our home, and you will not question Damon!" Her eyes were alight with her passion. When she sees he is listening to her, "Now, if you come in, we have plenty of questions for you. Some have to do with Elena, some with me, and some have to with Damon and I. Are you willing to answer?" She too is challenging, not allowing the man in front of her to scare her anymore. Not with how he is challenging Damon!

Elijah slowly smiles at the woman in front of him, "I will be delighted to." His daughter is quite the spitfire, and he loves it.

He then looks at Damon, saying, "Sorry."

Damon nodded, but keeps his arm around Bella. His instincts will not allow nothing less. He allows Elijah into their home, glancing outside as he manages to keep his temper not to have another storm yet. But it _is_ early in the evening.

* * *

Elijah follows his many times great granddaughter, or as he has begun to think of her as simply as his daughter. He had questioned if it was true in the past, that he could actually have a descendant, but staring at her now, there is no question that she is his and Camilia's. He is feeling very proud of her as she steps in between her vampire and him.

He carefully watches the interaction of the two, and his eyebrow lifts as he notices how close the two are. He knows her father is still alive. He had met him years ago. And warned him what would happen if she is hurt.

If Bella is the culmination of their line like he believes her to be, she may not be human much longer. If nothing else, he will turn her. But he suspects that her vampire and her have exchanged blood. After the talk with Elena, he will need to talk to the two of them. He suspects there is much more to them than normal couples.

He smiles as he enters the library and sees Elena. He is quite…fond of the newest doppelganger. And suspects his fondness for the other two were a mere reflection of her. It wouldn't surprise him, he has learned by now that nature's way to balance itself shows up in different methods. And right now is a touchy time for the supernaturals.

He moves to Elena, and lifts her hand to kiss it, telling her, "Hello, Elena." And smiles down at her, happy to be relieved of the pain of being separated from her. No matter how small of the time they will have.

* * *

Damon is watching Elijah. But with his greeting of Elena, he smiles. He told Bella that Elena deserved better and he has a feeling that he is seeing that better.

Bella sighs and sits at her desk, Damon coming behind her, his hands resting on her shoulder. Elijah grabs two of the chairs and arranges them in front of her, offering one to Elena and the other to Alaric. He rests perched behind Elena on her chair.

Starting it off, Damon tells him, "Bella received the results of Isobel's research a month ago. She started to go through it just a couple of days ago. Since then, some things…happened and I got involved. Bella learned that there was another type of vampire in the world and a lot of the things she had discounted as legends, she found to be real." He rubs her shoulders as she tenses at the mention of the Cold Ones.

Elijah had straightened up when he heard Damon say another type. He raises his eyebrow, "And you have knowledge of the Cold Ones?" This is not good. He knows of their silly laws and how much they enforce them. This time will be different. This is his family, and nothing is more important to him.

Bella hand goes to her wrist as she nods. "And personal knowledge of shifters, book knowledge of the Children of the Moon."

Damon stands behind her and covers her hand with his. "We will tell you more of that later." With a nod to the two in front of them. Elijah nods in understanding. He doesn't want Elena mixed up with them and is unhappy that Bella is.

Damon continues, "During Bella's research, she had found that for some reason, all the Founding Families of Mystic Falls are connected to what is called the Original Family. She also found proof tracing her line back to twins. Twins that you fathered." He stares down at the elder vampire, making him understand he _will_ acknowledge Bella.

Elijah nods. "I have already acknowledged her as my bloodline. And I will talk with the two of you more on this, privately." He stares at the two, waiting until they nod. He will not leave here without talking to them.

Elena huffs. "There is a lot you three will be talking about privately. How about the rest of us?" She hates how Stefan seems to leave her out of stuff to protect her, and it seems like they are doing the same thing. Why did she need to be here?

Elijah laughs and puts a hand on her shoulder, calming her. "No worries, Elena. We will have plenty to talk about. These other matters are personal to Damon, Bella and I." He does not like her being so upset.

She sighs and leans back. Somewhat mollified, but it reminds everyone in the room she is a high school student, and quite young all in all.

Bella picks up from Damon. "While I was researching my thesis, I came across different mentions of a curse. The one that these guys know as the Sun and Moon Curse. But I found that it was though the supernatural world was to look out for the doppelgängers. And found that they are supposed to die in a ritual to free someone called Klaus. Which Damon helped me find out is your brother." And she just looks at Elijah as she puts their cards on the table.

Elijah nods. In his head, he had been forming new plans and now those plans are becoming more important. He will safeguard Elena. And now he has Bella to keep safe. He suspects that Damon will be involved with it also. He sighs.

"Yes, when my brother and I had gotten along, we came up with the different curses to help locate the doppelgangers. They would only come rarely, and we didn't want to miss one. Katherine got out of it, and Elena has been the first since then. But, Klaus and I have had a falling out. He has managed to dagger our complete family except for father and me. As originals, the only way to kill one of us is to stake us with a White Oak Stake. Which all the White Oaks have been burnt, even by my father."

He moves to the Whiteboards to study them as he continues the story. "The other way to put us out of commission was thought of by the witches. A set of daggers, one for each of us was made. Dipped in the ash of the Oak, it has the means to paralyze us. But once removed, we come back. The daggers have to remain in us. I managed to get hold of two of them and had them destroyed."

"So there is one unaccounted for if everyone else is daggered." Damon comments, his hands on Bella's reassuring her.

Elijah turns and meets the human's and supernatural's eyes. "Yes. And it can only be used by one of us or a human. It kills the vampires who use it against us."

Bella leans forward and rubs her eyes. Even the originals can be killed or beaten.

Elena just mutters, "Wow."

Alaric agrees, but he asks the next question, "This is all fascinating, but the reason Elena called was because Bella is stressing out trying to find something she read. Something about the Doppelgängers and a sacrifice coming up." He actually genuinely likes Damon. And seeing him with Bella, well like Elena said, people are being proved wrong. So he is trying to get the conversation back on course for what worried Bella enough to call Elijah that she had been so very nervous in meeting.

Elijah sighs and rubs his bridge of his nose. "She is correct." And what has been driving him to making so many plans to try to save her. Now he needs to add Bella and he suspects Damon to those plans.

Bella groans and leans back in her chair. Damon rests his hands on her, collaring her, and making her feel safer as she looks up at him with his thumbs rubbing her neck. "And?"

Elijah looks up at him, "The first step, is to keep Klaus from here on the night that he can lift the curse, then we have another year."

Alaric mumbles, "And maybe the horse will learn to sing."

Elijah nods.

Damon repeats his earlier question, "And?" His eyebrow is lifted. He is noting that that there is more. He needs to know all of it so he can keep his Bella safe. Then he will safeguard the rest of them, then finally the town. But Bella is first. Now and forever.

Elijah looks away. "He will need to get his hands on a new vampire, a new werewolf and…blood related to him." And this is why he will be guarding Bella. She will be blood related to him. Even if they turn her, he can use her as the new vampire. Too many dangers right now.

Damon growls. "Does he realize the doppelgänger is his blood?" and gestures to the board that tells all.

Elijah's head came flying up, "No! How?"

Bella snarks, "The normal way babes are born. Two people have sex, a child comes."

Elijah is just staring at them. Damon asks, "Did you not ever wonder how the doppelgängers came about? They have to be blood related. Tatia had a child. She had to, for the spell to work. That child was Klaus's." He cocks his head as he tries to understand how the man in front of him never put it together. It is the only thing that made sense reading about them and how doppelgangers come.

Elijah's face actually pales. He starts pacing as he tries to work it out in his head. He finally says, "There is no way he knows. Bella is special and I recognized her as mine as soon as I saw her. Why did not Klaus of his descendants?" He knows Bella is special, but if the doppelgangers are the same, then Klaus should have sensed it. Elijah knew Bella's father was his, but not _his_ as what he will be discussing with them later. Bella is his heir.

Damon asks, "Is that meaning that there are more of your kids running around?"

Elijah shakes his head. "No. That is what makes Bella special." He turns to her, "Let me guess there was only one born to the line?" He cannot explain exactly. It is something special for her to be his heir.

Bella advises him, "To Each Line. One twin married into the Moutins. The other, your son, kept his mother's name, Lebada."

Elijah says softly, "Swan." As he nods. He was never sure, one of the witches had figured it out and he kept track of the lines from there. But he was never sure how it all came about.

Bella nods. "The lines join back together in my father and me." She didn't consider her mother's contribution to be much since she couldn't figure out how, but her mother's family was the same as her fathers, one descendant.

Elijah shakes his head. "You."

"What?" She is lost, why her and not her father?

Meeting her eyes, he informs her, "You." He looks at her and tells both of them, "You don't think that the rumor of a descendant hasn't made it to me in the past? I am devoted to my family. Even the thought of having someone of my blood alive was enough to send me searching. I met your father, and he didn't register. It's something about you. There is no question your mine." His heir, the one that he will gladly claim as his daughter from now until the ends of time. She will be turned, and she will walk this earth by his side.

Damon quells the growl, telling himself that he cannot deny her great-Grandfather his claim on her. But Bella is _his_. His hands, slide on her neck, and she just reaches up and holds her hand over his, not stopping him, but acknowledging him and his feelings.

Elena shakes her head, "That doesn't make sense, what makes Bella special?" She hates to say it, but why is Elijah making such a deal about Bella, and so is Damon. She has no idea why she is so jealous, but she just doesn't seem to be that special…

Damon scoffs, "She just is. She can block any mind powers, she survived an attack by a venomous vampire, she…"

Elijah smiles and interrupts Damon as he realizes what the two in front of him are, "She is one of a pair of very rare mates." And he stares at this man. He gains a daughter, and this man is already taking her from him? But he gives himself a shake and realizes, that he is gaining a son too. Mates…

They both nod, Damon's hands move back to her shoulder, and Bella strangely missing them on her.

Elena asks, "Mates?"

Damon smirks. "Mates."

Bella laughs. "Alaric?"

He shakes his head no, as he is trying to process this. Though he can see Bella's sense of humor as she asked him if he wanted to join in with the rest of them.

Elijah laughs as it sinks in that his daughter is mated, and whom to. "Yes, Elena. Mates. The other half of your soul. They are a tale as rare as any you can find. They are the basis for those fall in love in a glance tales." He cannot help the grin as he realizes that Damon will never leave her, will do so much to defend her. That she will not easily leave his side. And he means to be active in her and Damon's lives.

As he turns it over in his head, he realizes who must of told Damon about it, asks him, "Sage?"

At Damon's nod, he nods. "She would know, considering that she is one of the now two pairs known to me. You two being the other."

Bella quips, "Don't you mean three?" She grins slyly at him, letting him know that no, she had not missed it.

Elijah glances at her quickly.

Damon grins, "Oh, don't think we don't know. And I am pretty sure Bella feels the same way as I do and we both support it."

Elijah laughs. "Well, I guess you won't be too bad as my son in law." And he looks down at Elena, his eyes showing his joy in being so close to her.

Damon narrows his eyes at the other vampire as the rest of them laugh.

Elena though asks, "What is special about mates? I mean I get the fall in love in a glance and such, but what makes it so rare?"

Walking to her and sitting on the arm of the chair, he explains, knowing that she will need the information, and maybe, just maybe it will start her wondering. "Bella and Damon have probably realized they don't want to be apart. It's because they really can't be. The farther they are away from each other the worse it will be. Damon, being the vampire first, is probably going to be her sire. I need to talk to them both privately about that. Also, don't be surprised if you two find yourselves, well, being closer. It will be a literal drive for Damon before too much longer. As much as I hate to say it, Damon, be very prepared to turn her when you two do mate. Finn was unable to resist it. But these two will find themselves powerful, because they will draw on each other. This is going to be better for both of them because Damon's blood lust will dwindle as will hers once she turns. You will still need blood, but nowhere as much as you do now." He is watching the two, and could see Damon's hand tighten on her shoulder as she lays her hand on his. The more he is aware of them, the more he is approving of the elder Salvatore for a son in law.

Alaric is frowning, "Why? It seems to go against nature to have two being so powerful." He is turning over the information, not seeing much sense in it.

Elijah nods at him, "And that is why they are rare. What they are is the promise of our species continuing. As long as there is a mated pair in the world, our species will continue. And giving them all these abilities will help that. What worries me, is that they are needed. Or who knows, maybe it is fated?"

Bella shudders. "Don't say that." Fated never is a good thing. Fated means deadly situations, and chances that they will die.

Damon rubs her shoulders as he tells them, "Since this seems to be our inner group now, Bella dated a Cold One when she was young. He and the family betrayed her. She was attacked by a tracker and they left her with the mate still out there." The last is said with a growl, his teeth slightly elongating with his rage of his mate being in danger.

Elijah shudders. "I have no idea how they even came about. They are hard to kill and that makes me wonder. Only fire kills them, and only if you can get to the venom inside them. Otherwise they can walk through fire. They can also breed with humans." His voice is thick with the disgust he feels for them. As far as he is concerned, they are an abomination.

Bella turns white as Damon growls. "What?"

Elijah has his hand resting on Elena's shoulder as he tells them, "There are some half breeds in South America. No one understands it. And they find their mates easier than we do, but they are basically companions to them. They don't get the benefits of our kind. They also may have physic powers, but they have none of the supernatural of our kind." Elijah is trying to give him enough of the information to calm the vampire who is getting riled up at the danger he is sensing to his mate.

Damon growls. "That is something. I wonder if they could survive a lightning strike." At the end, he is turning over how he can do it. He has done it in the past, but controlling that much power is something that is harder than people would ever guess. That he had done it, successfully and more than once, had Sage calling him an elemental lord. He had laughed at her.

Elijah grins suddenly. "I have no idea. No one has tried it. As you know, power over the elements is extremely rare, especially to one of your age and to the extent of your control. But it would be an interesting experiment." He knows what Sage has named the elder Salvatore, and now, knowing what he does, he wonders if Damon was not always meant to be one of the elders of their species.

The two vampires grin at each other. Liking the direction their thoughts are going.

Elena yawns. "I am sorry to break this up, but I need to head home. School is tomorrow."

Elijah immediately apologizes and helps her out of the seat. Alaric grins as he too gets what Bella and Damon have been saying. He looks at Elena as his daughter, the daughter he believes he should have had with Isobel. Stefan was too controlling. Elijah would be better for her, and if he is thinking this through correctly, has been waiting for her for a very long time.

The group heads to the front door, Damon and Elijah framing Bella as they wish the other two goodnight. Stefan had appeared and giving a dirty look at the trio, escorts Elena to her vehicle and they leave.

And then it was down to three.

* * *

**Final count, 4,046 words.**

**There you go. Please leave a review. We are getting to the end of the chapters that I have posted on WordPress and for those of you waiting for the new stuff, it will be publish the same as the other stories! I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Next week will be the conversation!**

**Fairfarren~Wendy**


	12. Chapter 11 I Want Your Beautiful Soul

**Disclosure: Twilight and Vampire Diaries are owned by their respective braianics that thought of it. **

**Yep it's that time again! New Posting week! Go ahead and read through, I'll catch on the flip side.**

**Pre Edit Count - 2,558 Words **

_Song I listened to for this chapter: Beautiful Soul _by Jesse McCartney.

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_Previous:_

_Damon growls. "That is something. I wonder if they could survive a lightning strike." At the end, he is turning over how he can do it. He has done it in the past, but controlling that much power is something that is harder than people would ever guess. That he had done it, successfully and more than once, had Sage calling him an elemental lord. He had laughed at her._

_Elijah grins suddenly. "I have no idea. No one has tried it. As you know, power over the elements is extremely rare, especially to one of your age and to the extent of your control. But it would be an interesting experiment." He knows what Sage has named the elder Salvatore, and now, knowing what he does, he wonders if Damon was not always meant to be one of the elders of their species._

_The two vampires grin at each other. Liking the direction their thoughts are going._

_Elena yawns. "I am sorry to break this up, but I need to head home. School is tomorrow."_

_Elijah immediately apologizes and helps her out of the seat. Alaric grins as he too gets what Bella and Damon have been saying. He looks at Elena as his daughter, the daughter he believes he should have had with Isobel. Stefan was too controlling. Elijah would be better for her, and if he is thinking this through correctly, has been waiting for her for a very long time._

_The group heads to the front door, Damon, Elijah framing Bella as they wish the other two goodnight. Stefan had appeared and giving a dirty look at the trio, escorts Elena to her vehicle and they leave. _

_And then it was down to three._

_Now:_

* * *

Bella sighs and leans back into Damon. "I guess we need to talk first?" She is exhausted, today has been busy. Damon moving in, meeting the group, and now all this. She is more than ready to go to bed with her vampire and sleep.

Damon wraps an arm around her, kissing her on the head, "Let's go mia carissia. I promise that it will be worth your while. How often do you get to pick the brains of an Original vampire?" He knows how tired she must be, but he will be here, to give her what she needed from him.

Elijah smiles as he witnesses the two together. His pain at being parted from Elena is already starting, but he is used to it.

Elijah comments, "C'mon Bella. As Damon mentioned, it's not often that you get to pick my brain. In fact, other than you two, I don't think I have allowed anyone else to do so." He looks down at his daughter, proud of her.

Bella huffs as she turns and walks towards the library. "That's only because you call me your _Blood_." She is still mystified by his claim. Her own father has seemingly given up on her already, how would this man treat her? In the back of her mind, she knows her father is aware of one of two outcomes for her, and is only trying to make her life easier in making the choice. He loves her, and has proven that time and time again. But his withdrawal from her life has left a wound in her heart.

They have made it to the Library as Elijah grabs Bella and turns her. "I am proud to call you mine. I already think of you as a daughter of mine. I told you I am extremely loyal to my family, and you have that undivided loyalty. You, as part of me, will always hold my loyalty." He is staring into her eyes, not knowing why she is denying this, but he will prove to her that he will be here for her no matter what.

She stares at him, defiant at first but as she searches his eyes, the eyes that are the exact shade of hers, she sighs. "I don't know what to think. I have a father. But lately he has withdrawn from me. I don't know if that is my fault or what. But all in all, I allowed it, trying to put space in case of anyone finding out what I know." Her eyes drop, hiding the pain, the pain that she is unaware that Damon is very aware of and now so is Elijah.

Elijah pulls her to him, holding her. "I will never abandon you, nor will your Damon. You can always trust that the two of us have your back. I promise."

Damon had entered the room earlier with tea for Bella and watched the two. He loftily comments, "And you were worried about meeting him. Yet again, proof that I am better than any other." He smirks, wanting his Bella to smile.

Both Elijah and Bella laugh at him. He can see the resemblance between the two stronger with them side by side. He smiles at the two of them. "So does this mean we will all be family?"

Elijah shakes his head as he lets Bella go to him, watching as he settles her in what he takes as Damon's chair, making sure she is comfortable before handing her the tea he prepared. He then lazes on the arm and stretching behind her. He knows that Damon is also prepared to defend her to death if needed. His lazy pose is nothing more than that. A Pose. He bets that no one, not even Sage is totally aware of what this man will do for his mate, his other half.

He smiles at the two of them and starts. "This is going to be awkward, I am going to tell you this information, bluntly. But this is also the secrets of our family, Bella and Damon." His eyes watching theirs as they acknowledge what he is giving them.

He settles into a chair across from them and starts. "Bella, you are a direct descendant of mine. Because of this, you are going to get abilities that are reserved for Originals. But at the same time, when you finish the mating process, Damon and you will also receive the same privileges. The only things that can kill you are the White Oak Stakes. The daggers will affect you the same as though you were made with us. We have been the strongest as the oldest vampires, but you are of my blood, and I am _the_ original vampire. I was first, even before my father. Because of this, I have abilities that none of my siblings have, and from what I was told, you two will get these. Some of the powers are the ability to compel _any_ vampire. Original and the rest. Even Cold Ones." The last is said with a twist of his lips, knowing how powerful that ability can be.

Damon's eyes had widened.

Elijah chuckles. "There is a reason I searched for any offspring of the Originals and am upset I didn't know about the doppelgangers. But it explains how Katherine is so powerful, and therefore you, Damon. You are sired by a descendent of the Originals." He pauses.

Thinking, then looking up at the two of them, "I am going to get with some witches I personally know. I am going to check on this, but I believe that once you turn Bella, Damon, you will be of Klaus's line as well as mine. It would take killing us both, but then you will be attached to Bella and she will be considered head of her own line. I will let you know tomorrow. I will also get them to spell some stones for both of you. They are extremely loyal and I have trusted their lines for centuries." He is getting everything in order in his head. He has no doubt that Damon will be turning her before long.

Damon just looks at him oddly, "What does that mean head of her own line?" Bell had reached up and entwined their hands, and he squeezes it, giving her the support she needs.

Elijah leans forward, "Meaning that each Original vampire is considered their own line. Probably Katherine as a descendant is her own line also. You and Bella will be different if I am right, because it would take killing each one of us to end you without going against you directly. Then there is the whole Mating thing and who knows from there." He smirks, knowing that these two may end up the most powerful of their kind. Not that it will matter, Damon seems content, as long as Bella is safe. This is what he had seen of his own brother, Finn.

Damon growls. "So if someone kills Klaus, you would kill anyone that can trace their line back to him?" He is not liking this option. Which means to end him, he would not even have to be in a battle.

Elijah nods. "You see why this is kept secret now?" His eyes searching theirs making sure they understand how crucial this information is not to be given out.

Bella shakes her head. "This would be earth shattering if known."

Elijah nods. He takes a deep breath. "Now, I take it you both have shared blood?"

At their nod, he smiles. "Good. Not only will it save you, Bella, if you should get hurt or killed, but as Mates, you will need to do it. Even once you are turned. And Bella, don't be shocked if you need Damon's blood more than you getting your own. I think it is part of mating, I know Sage only drank Finn's." So much they don't know about mating, only what he observed and wrote down about Sage and Finn is the only guides they have. He too is not happy with the amount of non-information that is out there, since he is half of a mated couple himself. Which is why he will be watching his daughter and her mate.

Damon laughs as he looks down at his mate. "I am going to get horny for you and you will crave nothing but my blood. Makes sense."

Bella is shaking her head. "You weren't joking when you said Damon will change me then if not before." She cannot help but smile at Damon making jokes, she knows that is how he is, and she is appreciative of it since she often takes things a bit too seriously.

He nods. "I will love to make you my heir in every way, but I will be satisfied in claiming you both. If for some reason it doesn't work the way we think, I would ask that you both take my blood in a ceremony that will make you mine. I really rather you not connected any more than you are now to Klaus." He shudders as he thinks of his brother who is on a revenge kick.

They both look at each other and then nod. If Elijah is wanting this, neither can see a reason to deny him. Especially Damon, he is still of that mindset of having an heir and a spare. Even though for purposes with his father, he was the spare and his younger brother the heir.

He smiles. "Damon, once again, welcome to the family. You too have my loyalty since you are bound to my daughter." He settles back in the chair. "Bella, I will be dealing with some things, but I will be back to have you sign some forms to add you as my formal heir. I will also be performing the ceremony to acknowledge you." He grins, "Some of those old rituals actually do work." He cannot keep the joy out of his voice, letting them both know how happy he is to have a family of his own.

Damon kisses her head, "I did good. I got myself an heir to a royal family!" He teases her, reminding her of earlier today.

Bella laughs as does Elijah. "It goes with that Landed Southern Italian Gentleman I got." She teased him right back as he grins down at her. The love that the two are in, even if they didn't recognize it, is obvious to Elijah and he is pleased with the two of them and the match. It is for sure his daughter will not be wanting in affection from Damon.

Elijah relaxes with the two, making small talk for the rest of the night, wanting the connection with both of them.

After a while, Bella falls asleep in the chair. Damon is watching her as the two continue talking. After he is sure she is asleep, he looks up at Elijah. "Now we can talk." His tone is harder, giving notice that he is not the affable person he is around Bella. No, this is _his_ mate and he will be getting information to protect her.

Elijah nods as he watches the transformation from the loving mate, to the alpha male he knew Damon is. He had heard of him, and nothing in front of him is denying that status…

Damon calmly tells him, "How much does your loyalty stand next to Elena? Because if you are anything like me with Bella, Elena comes first." He decided to start on what he feels important. There is nothing more important than Bella. But he also does not know what is involved with Elijah acknowledging Bella as his daughter. From what he can tell though, it seems to be a huge deal.

Elijah sighs, his eyes resting on her then flick back up to Damon's eyes. "She does, but Bella is tied. Damon, she is the daughter I have been searching for longer than you can ever imagine. I was promised her a thousand years ago. As you said, she is special and I don't mean as a shield or anything like that. She is the child I have somehow known was out there, and searched my entire life for. I believe that I also mentioned earlier, that I met her father. He had nothing of me in him. But her? She screams to my very instincts as mine. My daughter. I will kill my family to protect her. The only thing I will not do is kill Elena for her. Is that what you wanted to know?" He is quiet, but his voice in hard, not allowing any doubt in his determination to acknowledge and protect this child he has just found after so long.

Damon nods, his face serious, as he looks down to the woman who has become his life. "I guess we are on the same side." Then he grins, "And when are you going to take Elena away from my ass of a brother? He doesn't deserve her." The Alpha look on him is hidden as usual, and he is back to his normal affable self.

Elijah laughs. "I am working on that. You are lucky Bella was single. No conflicts. When she is with me, she is mine. You can see that. But when your brother comes, her mind interferes. She thinks she owes him her loyalty." He shakes his head at how she is withstanding the pull.

Damon sighs. "Can you break compulsions?"

Elijah nods, "I can, why?"

Damon tells him, "I met Elena first. I compelled her to forget. But I wonder if I didn't make her seek Stefan out." He tells the secret he has kept since they met first. He never wanted her to choose him because of it.

Elijah stares at him. "And when you thought you were in love with her?" His estimation of Damon is changing so much. He is much more than anyone ever thought. And he is just that much prouder that he will be calling him, his.

Damon shakes his head, "I never deserved her. But now, I know what I felt for her was not love. Bella is everything to me. I will do anything for her. But I will not die for her that would leave her vulnerable and hurting." He meets the eyes of the Original Vampire, not afraid of him.

Elijah nods his head. "Dying for someone is easy, living for them is harder. I am going to be proud to call you mine."

Damon grins at him. "I think this will be the beginning of a long, beautiful relationship."

They laugh. Damon gets serious with him again. "If anything happens to me, what happens to Bella?" He needs to know. He will do everything to stay with her, but he also wants to prepare in case something happens.

Elijah sighs, not liking the turn of the conversation, but cannot deny him the information. "Depends. Sage is but a shadow of herself, but because Finn is still 'alive' she is still here. The same will happen to Bella if someone daggers you when you are mated. If you are not mated…well, all I can say is don't let it happen. It is really for the best interest of us all if you two would get on with it and mate." He is serious, it will make them both much stronger and harder to kill.

Damon laughs low. "Oh, believe me, I am all for it. But your daughter is a virgin. Which is a good thing since the only man she has dated was the Cold One." His eyes flash at his rage that someone could have killed her, had in fact damaged her psyche along with the scars on her body. He will make them pay for each and every one of them.

Elijah shudders. "You know, sooner or later they will cause a problem." His eyes flick upwards and meet Damons.

Damon's eyes darken as he growls out, "I am actually looking forward to it. They left her, to deal with everything on her own. And the bite…" He growls, his jaw tightened to keep control of himself.

Elijah leans forward, "Bite? What bite?" His own eyes darken, as he is holding his temper at the mere _thought _of one of them having bit his heir, his daughter.

Damon closes his eyes and takes a deep breathe of Bella to calm himself and remind himself that she is here with him. He then carefully extracts her arm out of the blankets he had wrapped her up in earlier when she had shivered. She stirs, but when he pulls her closer to him, she calms. He indicates her arm with his head.

Elijah moves forward and his growl is soon heard as he stares at the mark on her. "Who bit her?"

Damon's teeth elongates as he answers, "The tracker. But Fuckward sucked the venom out. He had her blood!" He and Bella had told him the story earlier. And just as when she told Damon, she had left out the bite. From what Damon understands, it was more painful for the venom to come out than her recovery from the broken bones.

Elijah barely holds in the snarl. His voice is rough as he bites out, "That blood belongs to you as her mate and me as her father! He will die for that. I don't care if he saved her life. He got her into the trouble in the first place." Elijah sprang up as he stalked around the room, his hands clenching.

Damon is satisfied with his response. He had barely held it together when she had told him the story. And looking at the only other male who he allows to have claim on her to react the same way, well it makes him feel justified.

Looking at him, Elijah asks, "This was the cause of the storm last night?" At Damon's nod he nods. "That is understandable."

Stopping at the same window Damon had the previous night to calm down, Elijah shakes his head after thinking. "This cannot go unanswered. I need to send a precedent to the Supernatural world. My daughter is not to be messed with! What do you know of the Cold Ones?"

Damon proceeds to tell him everything his mate had gathered. After a while, Elijah nods. "I think a trip to the Volturi will be in the works. I want her a vampire before we go. And it will be we, I think we will show them the power of us. If I have to, I will destroy the head of them and add it to my holdings." Nothing less will be accepted.

Damon smirks. "Confident are we?"

Shaking his head as he settles back into his chair, "And why wouldn't I be? Damon, you are almost my equal without the mating. You will be my equal once you are mated, and even when I mate Elena. I would be a fool not to include you and Bella. You have no idea how powerful you are about to become. Already you should be feeling something with exchanging blood." He smirks as he sees the look on Damon's face. "That feeling will never end. Taking blood from another or even your blood bags will never taste the same. Finn said it was like having the best steak in the world then drinking rust afterwards. But you will do it, to keep your mate from being hungry." He leans back as he gives more information to Damon to see how he would take it.

Damon closes his eyes, then asks, "Everything is going to change?" Not that he wouldn't give anything to have Bella as his.

Elijah leans forward, "Do you want it to not to, when you lose Bella as the alternative?"

"Never!"

"Good answer. If you answered anything but that, I would have taken her away from you. You would have searched your entire life for her, not knowing you were searching for her." Elijah advises him in a matter of fact voice.

Damon answers, "I already felt like that is what I did. I also suspect that is what drove me to obtain the power I did. I needed it for her." And he would do it again, the pain and everything he had suffered before Bella being nothing.

Thinking on it, Elijah nods. "I understand. I have had Tatia, then Camilia, and Katherine before I found Elena."

They meet each other's eyes, nodding.

Standing up, Elijah informs him, "Take your mate to your bed. I will see you later." With that he kisses Bella on her forehead and leaves.

Damon smiles at the little smile on Bella's face. "And you were so worried about meeting him, mia carissia." He moves and picks her up bridal style and carries her to their bed. He will need to talk to her tomorrow about the lock down code, he knows the unlock sequence, but he is not for sure on the lock down codes.

He deposits her in their bed, then goes to close the curtains as much as he can. When they are as light tight as he could make them, he sheds his pants and shirt and lays in bed with her. He kisses her forehead lightly, surrounding her body with his. He smiles, and soon tumbles into sleep with her.

* * *

**Final count, 3,908 words.**

**Please leave me a review! **

**Just a reminder, Wednesdays start the new posting week for me. I try to send to my betas before then, but sometimes writing takes over and Wednesdays are to make me stop and load up what I got for them to go through. This makes it so much easier on all of us, since a lot of my Betas are writers! And I am juggling 10 stories at once. Also, we are fast coming up to a lemon. Lemons are cut out of this version per FanFictions's rules and posted only on WordPress. **

**It also gets the updates first, while the Facebook group gets first notification (While I do all my part to link in the WordPress and move the chapter to here). There are plenty of reason to follow the different ways to catch your story being up first! All the links are in my profile. **

**Fairfarren~Wendy**


	13. Chapter 12 Whenever I Feel Lost

**Yes New Chapter. I was sick. But my Beta had the chapter ready for you guys on WordPress! More below**

**Disclosure: Twilight and Vampire Diaries are owned by their respective braianics that thought of it. **

**Pre Edit Count - 2,064 Words **

_Song I listened to for this chapter: Always Somewhere Close _by Lighthouse.

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_Previous:_

_Standing up, Elijah informs him, "Take your mate to your bed. I will see you later." With that he kisses Bella on her forehead and leaves._

_Damon smiles at the little smile on Bella's face. "And you were so worried about meeting him, mia carissia." He moves and picks her up bridal style and carries her to their bed. He will need to talk to her tomorrow about the lock down code, he knows the unlock sequence, but he is not for sure on the lock down codes._

_He deposits her in their bed, then goes to close the curtains as much as he can. When they are as light tight as he could make them, he sheds his pants and shirt and lays in bed with her. He kisses her forehead lightly, surrounding her body with his. He smiles, and soon tumbles into sleep with her._

_Now:_

* * *

Bella woke up in the morning, smiling. She can feel Damon in the bed next to her and realized he must have carried her into bed when she fell asleep last night. She can tell he is still tired, since yesterday he had been up with her and today he is sprawled on the bed, curled around her as he is sleeping.

She carefully gets up, noticing that he had closed all the curtains he could and reminded herself that she needed to give him the codes to the house, hopefully while she is programing him in it. She heads to the closet, skipping a shower for now. Once she is dressed, she softly walks past him, stopping to admire the man who was hers, from now until the end of time.

Shaking her head, Bella heads downstairs. She ends up making a bowl of cereal, eating it at the counter as she stares out the windows. When she finishes, she sets the bowl in the sink, then heads into the library.

* * *

Damon wakes and immediately realizes that Bella is not with him. He sits up in bed, but calms down when he thinks through it that she must be close since there is no pain. He gets up, heads to the shower and gets ready for the day.

When done, he heads downstairs, realizing it is late in the afternoon. He frowns slightly, wondering why Bella let him sleep so late. He heads into the kitchen, thinking she would be there cooking dinner, but when he got there, he saw only a bowl in the sink. He put it in the dishwasher, then headed into the Library.

When he got there, he leans against the door jam, watching her.

Bella had obviously fell into one of her research fits. Her hair is pulled up in a bun, and she is frowning as she types into her research computer as she has another book open. The desk is nowhere as neat as it had been the last couple of days. Post it's littered the monitors, and are sticking out of various books sitting around her.

His vision allows him to see the notes she had been writing and he cocks his head to the side. But he catches himself before he says anything. Thinking for a couple of seconds, he decides to make them dinner, since she is in her zone.

He heads into the kitchen, and noticing the contents of the refrigerator and the cupboards, plans to make the chicken breasts she has with mushroom sauce. He quickly starts dinner, working with a real passion.

After he finishes the dinner, he sets the table in the dining room, and pours the wine. Looking over everything, he heads into the library wiping his hands on the towel that he has on his shoulder.

Bella had caught on to a couple of things when Elijah had talked. He hadn't known that the doppelgangers were family, and had no idea where the Cold Ones came from. This bugged her this morning and she went back to her books. A lot of the information she had found on the Cold Ones as Elijah calls them, are from her findings in Carlisle's and Jasper's books. She had started the database at that time and used it heavily to research through as she hunts for a hint of where they came from.

The doppelgangers are still a mystery, but then Elijah had mentioned he had met her father and not noticed that he was family. But that Katherine and Elena looked identical made her wonder. Did her mother's whatever she added make that much of a difference?

The news that Elena is the last of the Petrova's made her wonder about the curse from the witches. What if Elijah turns her before she had a child? Would the curse somehow go from her to Jeremy? And if so how? Because it is Isobel that was Katherine's descendant. Or would it make Elena be the first vampire in history to have a child?

These questions plague her. She feels that it will be important. And so she spends the time waiting for Damon to wake up researching.

So it startles her when she all of a sudden felt his hands on her shoulders and realizes that he must have cooked since the house smelled great. His hands alone have her relaxing into him.

Damon smiles as she rolls her head back with a groan as he massages her tight shoulders. He tells her softly, "I made dinner. Take a break and after dinner we will talk about what has you upset."

Bella sighs, and takes his hand when she goes to stand up. He pulls her into his arms and held her for a second. They both relax, needing the connection.

Softly murmuring into her as they both cuddle, "I don't think we will be able to hold off on our mating, mia carissia. If we feel like this just being in the same house the entire time, it will only get worse."

Bella nods her head, admitting to him, "I know. I know it would also be safer for both of us if we mated and you turned me. I have a bad feeling Damon. I feel like something is coming, and it has to do with Elena being the last Petrova and what Elijah said about not knowing how the Cold Ones came about. It just makes no sense if you think about it. Nature had provided a way to restrict humans with the vampires from Elijah's family. The Mating will ensure basically that there will always be your type around. But what use does nature have in making poisonous vampires? They could kill off the humans." Her voice slightly rises and Damon can feel her tensing up.

Damon kisses her forehead, holding her close. He answers her, "And we will look into this. But for right now, you need to eat, and our dinner is cooling." He looks down at her, "Remember, I told you I would look after you."

She laughs and they head into the dining room. He pulls out a chair for her and pushes her in when she sits. He kisses her hand and sits down at the head of the table next to her.

Bella grins at his gentlemanly ways. Then she looks down at the plate in front of her and murmurs, "Oh, my."

Damon grins and tells her, "Try it before you say much more." He watches as she does as he suggested, and laughs when her eyes roll back.

Bella just shakes her head. "Landed Southern Italian Gentleman, and a great cook. I really have landed the jackpot."

He chuckles as he leans closer after he takes a bite. His eyes are dancing with mischief as he swallows. He tells her, "That's not all I am good at, Tatina."

Bella feels the blush as it flames across her face.

Damon reaches out and lifts her face to his. His eyes search hers as he tells her, "My Bella, there is nothing to be embarrassed about. We love each other and will be with each other for the rest of eternity, if I have anything to say about it. I can think of nothing better than us spending days in bed." He smirks at her and then leans forward even more as he growls, "And I want to know where that blush ends, mia carissia." Even though his eyes are their normal icy blue, there is no doubt in Bella's mind of the passion he is promising her with those same eyes.

She can't but laugh at him. She leans forward and kisses him, he returns it with the same amount of passion. They stop so that Bella can breathe, and Damon leans back and takes another bite, watching her.

The two of them continue to eat, talking with each other about random stuff. Just getting to know more about each other. There are laughs and teasing going on, Damon the entire time watching her, making sure she is fine after working all day without a break.

Once dinner is done, she helps with the clean up, Damon grinning as she protested that since he cooked, she clean. His just told her, "You were working and I lazed about. It all balances out, Stella."

He also starts her a cup of tea on the Keurig she has. He shakes his head at the machine, "I remember when the big thing was espressos. Now you can have a fresh cup of coffee anytime with one of these cups." He hands her the tea after he makes it as she prefers.

Bella grins and tells him, "It's awesome. I never have to worry about making sure the pot is off when I get into my zone as you call it. My dad bought me this when they came out. It was one of the biggest worries he had after I had left a pot on so long it cracked on me."

Damon reaches out and cups her face. "No more. I will take care of you, and make sure that nothing will happen to you. To think of how close it was in me never finding you…I may have ended up with Elena."

Bella laughs. "What about Elijah? He might have killed you for going after his mate."

Damon shakes his head as his thumb caresses her face. "No idea. I don't want to think on it, to tell you the truth. Because the reasons you not being here are not ones I ever want to imagine. You really are my luce dei miei occhi, mia carissia. I never want to be apart from you, even if this Mating thing didn't occur."

Bella smiles at him, leans forward to kiss him. Damon pulls her to him, while removing the cup of tea from her hands. He licks her bottom lip and when she allows him entrance, he pulls her closer as he takes control of the kiss, slanting his mouth over hers.

When Bella needs air, he moves his lips down her jaw to her throat. When she moans as he nibbles on her artery, he pulls himself back, reluctantly. Holding her a minute as he cools down, he mutters to her, "Yeah, I think it is going to be soon, my Bella."

She cuddles into him, and laughs when he picks her up easily. "You, missy, have some information to part with me. Let's take this into the Library and hope that it will cool me off." He smiles down as he is walking.

Bella grins up at him and mischievously asks, "So when do you think you will give in?"

He growls as he walks into the Library and drops them both into his chair. "If you want it sooner, just tell me. It would be much better than this torture, mia cassimia."

Bella kisses him on the chin and tells him, "I will. And I will keep in mind the torture as you call it."

He shakes his head. Then changes subject, "So while I made dinner, I contacted some of the witches I know and put in some orders for stones for you. I know Elijah said he would take care of it, but the more the merrier, I think." And he will not trust the safety of his love to anyone, not even her father.

She nods at him. "You would know best, so I default to your wisdom, oh great one."

He tickles her as he lifts an eyebrow, "Oh great one? I think you are exaggerating there, mia cara."

Her laughter peals out and the two of them settle down after Damon teases her some more. When they are calm, Damon asks, "Let's get this on the road. Show me what you got so far."

"Hope you are ready for this, because it's been a ride for me…"

* * *

**Final count, 2,183 words.**

**Please review!**

**So, I was sick and at one time banned from the computer. All better now, but my betas are awesome and they updated chapters and posted on WordPress while letting the group know on Facebook. If this happens again, this will be SOP from here on out. Just letting you know. Links to the group and WordPress are in my profile!**

**Fairfarren~Wendy**


	14. Chapter 13 Lives in a Dream

**Yeah! It's Wednesday and you guys know what that means... New chapter! Thanks as always to Sitalia! She writes, she betas, she is superwoman!**

**Disclosure: Twilight and Vampire Diaries are owned by their respective braianics that thought of it. **

**Pre Edit Count - 2,624 Words **

_Song I listened to for this chapter: She is The Sunlight _by Trading Yesterday.

* * *

_Previous:_

_He tickles her as he lifts an eyebrow, "Oh great one? I think you are exaggerating there, mia cara."_

_Her laughter peals out and the two of them settle down after Damon teases her some more. When they are calm, Damon asks, "Let's get this on the road. Show me what you got so far."_

_"Hope you are ready for this, because it's been a ride for me…"_

_Now:_

* * *

As Bella and Damon get comfy in the chair they are sharing, she tells him, "Basically like I told you before dinner, I thought about the Cold Ones. They make no sense. And I thought also about Elena and the curse." Her hands are playing with his, amazed how long his fingers are.

Damon nods, his eyes watching her, waiting for her to continue but enjoying this time with the two of them.

She looks up at him, "I don't understand why Klaus was cursed and if it is something that nature wanted. If it does, how will it make sure that Elena doesn't become a vampire? Since nature basically mated Elena and Elijah, then what about Klaus?" Her mind is busy cataloguing the differences and she is not coming up with anything that sounds right, nor a definitive answer.

Then she grimaces. "What really doesn't make sense to me is how it seems like nature is a living being in all this. Is there a Gaia? Think about it. It seems to direct the witches to do its will directly." She looks up at her mate again, to see if he has any input, he has been around and has seen more witches than she has dreamed of.

Damon stares off, thinking. "Emily loved and worked for Katherine. But it was more like she was obsessed with her, at other times it seemed like she was being guided by someone else. It never made sense to me, but she is the one who spared the vampires in the church from being burned. She was also the one to make my first daylight ring, the one I still wear as well as another one. I have been told the enchantment on it is particularly strong, so I make it a point to retrieve it if someone takes it." And the mate to his ring is the one he will be gifting to Bella as her daylight ring, their mating ring.

He negligently kisses her head as he continues. "I agree with your thoughts on the Cold Ones. Why are they even here, how in the world could they come about? But then I used to think the same way about my own species." He shrugs. He really hadn't wondered much on the why's just making sure he survives.

"I think, as Elijah said, that nature needed something to be the top of the pyramid. Vampires can be brought down by many different things, so there was something that could keep the population under control. In fact, nature went out of its way to make sure that there will always be your species around. It also made sure that you can eat without killing your prey completely, which goes back to the balance issue. The Cold Ones can easily overrun the earth, and end all the species on it by not being careful. Especially since they can survive on any blood. For you guys it weakens you to drink animal blood, again, a balance. You will maintain your food source." Bella winces as she puts it so baldly, but it is true.

Nodding his head, Damon leans his head back to study her face. He shakes his head as he tells her, "You are amazing. You are introduced to this world and have it down so well. I am beginning to feel redundant." He grins as he says the last to her.

Bella leans forward to kiss him with a smile playing on her lips. "Never. You just need to realize I had most of the information already, but had dismissed it as wrong because I had personal knowledge of vampires. Now that I know that it is real, I have made an effort to recall everything and work on it in my mind. But the most pressing thing is, what about Elena? I think we will need to find out what is so special about Klaus that he has this curse and what it is. I cannot go forward until we find out that piece of information." She is musing on the last part as she just stares at his handsome face.

Damon smirks. "Then, since we are at an impasse, then what should we do, mia carissia?" He will help her find out what she needs to know, but for now, this is the first day they have had with no visitors and just each other.

Laughing at his facial expressions, Bella teases him back, "I have no idea. You're the one who slept in all day."

Damon just smirks at her as he leans forward to claim a kiss from her. He loves the way she tastes. It makes him wonder what the rest of her will taste like. The thought is enough to make him growl lightly. He licks the bottom of her lip to gain entrance to her mouth. As he does, his tongue sweeps in to claim it again as his own, but at the same time, his hands come up to cradle her face gently. He treasures this woman, this one in a million chance that he has. This one woman who is his, and gladly admits that she is his, and his only.

Moaning into his mouth as she gives up the fight quickly, she at the same time feels not only treasured but possessed by Damon. All she can think of is to give thanks to whomever has given her this wonderful man, who seems to be uniquely qualified to understand her.

He too has had his own heartbreak and thankfully, he was turned. Unfortunately, he has waited a long time for her. However, no one can deny that Damon used the time to benefit them both. From comments Elijah had dropped last night, Damon was unusually strong.

Soon, Damon's kissing drove out even the thoughts of him as she found something inside her was clamoring for him too. It is as though every move of his tongue was tied to her womanhood. Before long, that urge is becoming too much and she turns in his arms and straddles him, Damon only breaking from his kisses to allow her to breath. She arches up into his mouth as he worships her neck until she catches her breathe, and he is right back at her mouth, claiming it as his.

When Damon had to give into her human needs, he kisses up and down her throat, whispering his devotion to her. When she turns in his arms to straddle him, it took everything he had not to react to the new position. He has promised her that he will take it easy on her, and if nothing else, he will try his utmost to keep his promises to her.

But when she moves and thrusts her hips into his, he could not restrain his own reaction to it. He groans as he rests his head against her neck as he gives into the need coursing through him to give in and claim his mate. But to hold himself back from all he wishes to do to her, he has to move his hands to the chair arms.

Lost in her own lust, Bella doesn't notice at first that while Damon is thrusting up into her, his hands are nowhere close to her. It wasn't until after she had put her hands on his shoulders as she felt herself reaching that cliff, and she opened her eyes as she leans back, to stare into his eyes did she realize that his hands were on the arms of his chair, barely stopping from breaking the chair with the force of his grip.

All this is taken in, but nothing could be done as they both came from their actions, and completely with no thought into it, both bite into each other, making them both cum again. Both lost in each other, not thinking of anything but the need they have for each other.

After a few minutes, Damon only then puts his hands on her as he licks his bite closed. When he is sure she wouldn't bleed, he falls back into the chair with a sigh, bringing her with him. He cuddles her to him, whispering his love to her as he feels himself purr at her. He cannot believe she is his. She is so perfect. He smirks as he realizes she is as horny as he himself is.

When she gains back her breath, she looks up into Damon's face. "Why?"

He looks down at her with a smirk on his face and tells her, "Because you didn't tell me you are ready. Mia Carissia, I promised to hold off, to wait until you are ready. And I will do nothing to make you not trust me. I told you, you are the light of my eyes, my sunlight. I love you." By the end of this, his eyes soften as does his face, showing his devotion to her. As much as he wants her, needs her even, he will do nothing to ever have her doubt his word to her.

Bella smiles, as she tells him, "I love you too. And you could have. I think I may have a slight idea of what you are going through, love." She looks up at him through her eyelashes as she says the last part.

He smiles at her and just admits to her as he tucks a piece of her hair behind her ear, "When you are ready. You will let me know, cara. We have forever."

She laughs up at him and then asks shyly, "Will you take a bath with me, Damon? For some reason, I feel the need to." A light blush takes her face as she looks down drawing on his chest lightly.

He grins at her as he grabs her fingers and bestows a kiss on them. "And then I have done my job, milady. But I will love to take a bath with you. Why don't you go start the bath and I will get us some wine." He is getting the idea that she is working herself up, and he will do anything to relax her. Not like he would have before, waiting for the time he can fuck the woman, no this time, he wants her comfortable, knowing that she is his, and if she doesn't want to this time, they still have taken steps forward in helping her gets over her nerves.

Bella grins at him mischievously as she says a little louder, "Master Bath, fill tub at preferred temperature. Master Suite, start fire."

Not being able to help himself, Damon laughs as he touches her on the nose. "Spoiled princess." He stands up and sets her on the floor. "Now get upstairs and get yourself some bubbles." He watches her as she laughs at him and kisses his cheek as she leaves.

He mutters to himself, "Hate to see you leave, but love to see you go." He shakes himself and goes to pour them some wine. While he could not make it quite as romantic as he wishes to, he can try. He tells himself that he will just have to make sure to take her out soon, pull out all the stops.

As he enters the kitchen, heading to the wine room, his phone rings. He pulls it out as he opens the hermetically sealed door, "This is Damon." He walks in the room, taking the second to smile as he notices how organized even this is.

"Are you never coming home?"

Damon smirks as he selects a bottle of wine. "Actually, if you wish to get technical about it, I am home. But then, I also own the boarding house as well as the Salvatore lands. So be nice brother. I am your landlord, remember."

As he is talking, he exits the room, heading to the wine glasses. He thinks to himself how at home he feels here, even though he has not been here a full day, it is more home than the Boarding house.

"So you are just going to live there? What about when Bella gets tired of you, or you her? This wouldn't be the first time you have attached yourself to someone."

Damon just couldn't let Stefan to make him upset. "Yes, never, and this is different. But then you wouldn't understand, brother. Tell me, have you ever told Elena about Rebecca? Or were you just going to wait until she shows up to drop that bomb on her?" He lifts his eyebrow as he makes his point to Stefan, knowing the answer.

Stefan growls into the phone as he turns to the fire in the fireplace. "None of your damn business, Damon. But then have you told Bella about your past hook-ups? Or how you wanted my girlfriend?"

"Yes to both. Actually, she guessed the past hook ups. But as someone who cares about me, she has accepted all of me. Have you accepted all of Elena, or are you still trying to convince her to allow you to protect her against the big bad world?" Damon studies the bottle in the light, then nodding to himself on the selection he had made, proceeds to open it. Deciding that it will be easier to bring the bottle up with him, he leans against the counter. "Stefan, is there an actual reason for this call? I already told you I was moving in with Bella. So you know I was not planning to come home."

Stefan starts to pace. "Elena has asked Bonnie to put a spell on her place that blocks all vampires from it. She isn't answering her phone nor her door and I am worried."

Damon rolls his eyes as he tells him, "Maybe she wants some private time. You never know. Go to bed Stefan and worry about it tomorrow. I take it you know she is home, so there is no worries. I, on the other hand, have a beautiful woman waiting for me. So I bid you Adieu." With that, Damon hung up his phone.

He grabs the bottle and glasses and moves quickly through the house, noticing she had put the house on lockdown for the night. He only stops in the bedroom to strip down to his boxers and then moves into the bathroom. He pauses as he sees his mate in the bathtub, surrounded by candlelight.

Bella is watching him, her hair piled messily on her head. She blatantly eye fucks him as she stares at him. He smirks at her, then unashamedly drops his boxers as he moves to the tub. He settles in, careful not to splash her as he grins at the overfill rim. It is a break in the mosaic around the tub, but it allowed the water level to be much higher, and there is no worries of a mess from filling the tub.

Bella accepts the glass he hands her after pouring it, their fingers caressing each other. She grins as he settles in the tub, stretching out. He takes a drink from his own glass as he sets down the bottle where he can reach it in case she wishes more, then eyeballing her, extends a hand to her. She unhesitantly puts her hand in his, and moves to where she is lying with her back to his chest.

Damon relaxes with arms around her, nuzzling into her neck. He kisses where he bit her earlier. The spot surprises him as it smells slightly of him, but he enjoys it. Her smelling of him is very pleasing to him and the beast inside of him.

Her eyes sliding close with his attentions she asks softly, "Who called?"

Giving a last kiss to her neck, he asks her, "How did you know someone called?"

Not even thinking about it, she tells him, "Over the years, my hearing and a bunch of other things have enhanced. Not near to your guys level, but definitely above human. I suspect it is an effect of the venom that was in my body, since the bite is cooler than the rest of my body."

Damon's arms pull her tighter as he growls, "And you are telling me this, now?" He's not mad at her listening, but on how that one bite might cause issues later down the road for her.

Sighing, she cuddles into him. "It hasn't been brought up and quite frankly it hardly passes my mind anymore. I don't get sick, I don't have a lot of the issues that I hear from others. Just once in a while I notice it, and this time, I think it is because of me wanting to hear you come in. I couldn't hear your conversation, just that I know your ringtone."

He kisses her forehead, trying to gauge her temperature. He knows he runs slightly higher than normal, but still cool to a human's touch. Just enough that woman tend to think he had poor circulation. But he couldn't tell if Bella was cooler than a normal human.

Wrapping his arms around her to bring her slightly higher on him, he kisses her neck again. "I'm sorry. You have no idea how much the thought of someone else having your blood bothers me. And it's not just me. To let you know, after you fell asleep, Elijah wanted to know more about you. When I showed him the bite, he was pissed to say the least. He has claimed you as his, his claim being higher than anyone's but mine. A lot of that has to do with his standing, and in fact it is because you are my mate, is the only reason mine is higher. This means that your blood belongs to us. To me actually, but he feels propriety towards it also."

Bella frowns as she comments, "I went from being a nobody to people outside my field, to-"

"A princess basically. Elijah is Old World. He probably ranks higher than those royals in Volturi. And being acknowledged as his daughter, well let's just say you are a princess now, Cara."

Bella laughs. Damon growls as the movement makes him harder for her. He tells her, "Mia Carissia, if you keep doing that, there will be actions taking place."

She grins at him. "Why do you think I suggested the bath? This is my way of trying to make peace with the virgin nerves." She gets serious. "Damon, like I said earlier, I am getting an idea of how you feel. I can barely keep myself still, and I promise you, I am nervous!"

Damon tells her softly, "I will wait, Bella."

She smiles at his soft confession. "But what if I don't want you to?"

* * *

**Final count: 3,246 words**

**Please leave me a review!**

**Also, public service announcements! 1) This is the last chapter that will be uncensored! The next few chapters are going to contain crap that FanFiction won't allow because they don't like to add the date thingy into their program. But they will delete the stories that have what they or anyone who complains as not suitable for children to read. I hate this, but I have too many stories on here to buck the system. Before you say anything, I have PLENTY of people I know who got deleted. So, I post whatever the fudge I want on my site, and play by the rules here. So if you want uncensored chapters, they will be on WordPress. I will add a line as I cruelly cut the censored crap out. Links are on my profile if you want to get a head start.**

**2) I am going to be gone babysitting my adorable nephew who is not a year old. This will be from Friday through Tuesday (6/14/13 - 6/18/13). I will have an iPad and that is all. So, updates are going to be sporadic next time, since my prime writing and editing time is going to be taken up. But they will resume, with Beta approval of course, the following Wednesday after that. For anyone who is not aware, I am working on 11 fics at one time. My Beta maintains her own site and stories also. This is why we update once a week starting on Wednesdays and our week ends on the following Tuesday. Please be patient. **

**Now you can return to your normally scheduled whatever you do. Have fun, and I will hopefully see you next week!**

**Fairfarren~Wendy**


	15. Chapter 14 Light Starts to Tremble

**Warning, this chapter had lemons in it that were removed for FanFiction. Stupid FanFiction! But the good news? You can find uncensored chapters on my WordPress site! Link is in Profile!**

**Disclosure: Twilight and Vampire Diaries are owned by their respective braianics that thought of it. **

**Pre Edit Count - 2,752 Words **

_Song I listened to for this chapter: If I Lose Myself _by OneRepublic.

* * *

_Previous:_

_Bella frowns as she comments, "I went from being a nobody to people outside my field, to-"_

_"A princess basically. Elijah is Old World. He probably ranks higher than those royals in Volturi. And being acknowledged as his daughter, well let's just say you are a princess now, Cara."_

_Bella laughs. Damon growls as the movement makes him harder for her. He tells her, "Mia Carissia, if you keep doing that, there will be actions taking place."_

_She grins at him. "Why do you think I suggested the bath? This is my way of trying to make peace with the virgin nerves." She gets serious. "Damon, like I said earlier, I am getting an idea of how you feel. I can barely keep myself still, and I promise you, I am nervous!"_

_Damon tells her softly, "I will wait, Bella."_

_She smiles at his soft confession. "But what if I don't want you to?"_

_Now:_

* * *

Her words ringing in his mind, Damon looks down at her. "Mia Carissia, there is no hurry. I told you I will wait, and I have enough self-control to be able to keep that promise." He only wants to make sure she has no regrets. Their lives will be too long for any kind of doubts to be present.

Bella looks up at him, her brown eyes solemn. "But Damon, I don't want to wait. I want to know what it is like having you. Knowing that you are my first and last, knowing I am your last. I want to know what I have been missing. I want to feel closer to you."

Damon wraps both arms around her as he drops his chin to her shoulder. "I may have enough self-control to wait for you, mia Stellina, but I cannot guarantee that it will be enough not to stop from turning you tonight. This is why I am willing to wait." He kisses his mark on her neck. "I love you, Bella. And I have fucked up enough times to know that love is selfless. So I want you to realize that if we do this, you may not wake human in the morning." He tries to hide how badly he wishes for this, to make her his in every possible way. This is her choice.

Snuggling into his arms, and not mistaking the evidence of his arousal on her back, Bella says to Damon. "You're right. And I have thought of nothing but this for the past few days. Especially after Elijah told us last night that you would probably turn me. And while I appreciate the thought of you waiting for me to handle not being human, but think about it, Damon. I have been aware of this option since Fuckward left me. Actually beforehand. And I can't help but think that with all we have been told, this will be safer for both of us."

She looks up at him, staring into his eyes, "I don't want to lose you, Damon. Either by my own death or by yours. These feelings, they may have been sudden to everyone else, but I can't stand to be away from you, I feel only complete when you are next to me. I feel for the first time in a long time, safe. Loved. Cherished. The feel of your arms are home, and the feeling of you next to me is unexplainable. Which makes me wonder how you will feel inside of me, when the two of us are joined closer than any other beings on the planet with the exception of 4 others? Closer than any being ever on the planet. I deserve that. You deserve that with all the pain you have felt over the years."

Damon's eyes close as her words hit home. A tear escapes as she describes his fear of losing her, of how he feels for her in the short while. He will kill to keep her from harm. And to know she feels the same way is amazing for him, the one who has always come out in second place with the women of his life.

Bella's voice drops, "And that is just me. How about you? You've been alone for so long, chasing a ghost. Sacrificing everything to be ready for her, to keep her safe, to only find that the sacrifices were in vain, that she never loved you." A tear escapes as she thinks back on how much pain her mate has been in over the many years as he unknowingly waited for her.

Damon pulls her closer as he tells her roughly, "None of it was a sacrifice in vain. It was all in preparation for you, my Tatina, mia carissia. Nothing was too much because it brought me you. Bella, I love you. I have loved rashly before, never understanding the truth of it. And now? Now all I want to do is take care of you, love you, shower you with everything you could ever want or need. To find that you treasure actions more than physical possessions, is a blessing. As you have mentioned before, I am a romantic at heart, and now I have someone who will truly appreciate it." He ends the outpouring of his heart with a kiss. One that he tries to convey everything he just said into.

Bella gives in to his demand that she open her mouth to him, allowing him in. She allows him to explore her mouth, as she lightly teases him by teasing his tongue with hers. They ended the kiss with a laugh, Damon rubbing his nose on hers.

"Only you, mia carissia, can turn a kiss with the two of us naked in a tub, with high sexual tension, into a fun time." His eyes then search hers as he gently asks, "Are you sure, mia Bella?"

She turns in the tub and straddles him while pulling his head towards hers and she claims the kiss. Meeting his lips with hers, nipping at his lips, until he lets her in, then sweeping in to map it out, to claim what is hers. She continues until she is breathless, then she looks into his eyes and asks, "What do you think?"

His eyes are dilated as he stares back into her brown eyes. She cups his face and tells him softly, "I have never been happier that your type of vampire doesn't change their eye color. What a shame to have lost these."

Damon smirks as he leans forward. He kisses her quickly as his arms wrap around her, bringing her closer. "Seriously Bella? You want to talk about the color of my eyes when we have so much else we can be doing with our mouths?"

Bella laughs, "Ah, there is the Damon I met. I wondered if I would have the joy of him again."

Damon's hands spread on her back, as he leans forward to nip at her neck. He intentionally thrust with his hips. At her gasp, he tells her huskily, "I can only ask so many times, mia carissia." He kisses down her throat, leaving behind little marks from his teeth that he soothes with his tongue.

Bella's breathe hitches in her throat as she feels the bites he is giving shooting straight to her stomach. She leans back into his arms, knowing he will not let her fall, giving him room to do with her as he pleases. She chuckles as she realizes that she is about to receive the benefits of a Mate who has probably had thousands of sorority girls in his life up to now.

Damon smirks as he tells her, lips hovering over her collarbone. "You know, most men would be put off by their woman chuckling as they work to turn them on. However, knowing you, mia stellina, you will have been thinking that will make me laugh with you."

Not able to hold in the laugh, she shakes in his arms. But the next minute, he verifies her thoughts of the benefits of having an experienced Mate by trailing his tongue down between her breasts, and looking into her eyes.

He grins at her as her laughter turns into gasps of pleasure.

Bella's head is so far back, her hair is trailing in the water. Her eyes are hooded with lust as Damon works to pleasure her. Her mouth is open as she tries to catch her breath, which she can quite never seem to catch since anytime she comes close, he senses it and does something to make her either gasp or moan in pleasure.

Damon is looking up her body as he lays her down in the water. "Mio Dio, donna, sei la vista più bella del mondo. Quello che fai per me dovrebbe essere contro le leggi della fisica." (_My gods, woman, you are the most beautiful sight in the world. What you do to me should be against the laws of physics._)

Looking down her body at the dark haired god below her, she attempts to smile as she tells him, "I know some Italian, but I have no idea what you just said."

Damon kisses her stomach then turns her so that when he stands, he is holding her bridal style. He looks down at her as he carries them into their bedroom. "We have a lifetime and then some. I will teach it to you." He reverently lays her down, staring into her brown eyes. He then tells her softly, "Last time, Bella."

Bella leans up on her elbows and asks him, "Do you promise that this is the last time, Damon?"

He smirks as he admits, "I do seem to ask you that a lot don't I?" Then his face gets serious as he climbs on the bed, bestowing kisses as he makes his way up her body until he is laying on her. "But I have never had someone who has loved me for me. I know how badly I want this. I want us to be one. I want you to be mine for the rest of time. I want that assurance of nothing being able to take you away from me. Because if you are ever taken from me, I will fight for you. And if you are taken away from me by death, I will follow you in a heartbeat. Bella, you are everything to me. Please excuse me as I make sure this is what you want."

Bella reaches up and cups Damon's cheek. "You are all I want, Damon. Make me yours."

Damon reaches down and kisses her. With one hand, he reaches out to the table beside them and quickly opening the drawer and getting the item he wishes, he hovers right above her lips as he asks her, "Be mine, mia carissia. Be mine for the rest of time."

When she smiles and divulges to him in a soft voice, "I already am, Damon." He grins and slides his hand down to her left hand and never looking away from her eyes, he slides the ring on, kissing it when it is in its place. He watches her, waiting for her reaction.

When she realizes he wants her reaction, she glances at her hand. Her face goes blank in shock as she stares at it. "Damon…"

He smiles. "That was what I was looking for. And before you go saying it is too much, it's only the beginning. We may need to wear the stone, but I wanted it to mean something else for the two of us." He laughs. "I got some more pieces that, as I told you before, I had spelled. But that one, that one is spelled by the same person who spelled mine. I saw it and could not, not buy it. However, I also could not give it to Katherine or anyone else. In fact to be truthful, I thought I lost it until I was gathering my things the other day, and it fell out of a suit pocket."

Smiling up at him, Bella reaches up and kisses him. "You know, for a horny man, you sure are talkative…"

Damon laughs as he kisses her back. He sits back on his knees, admiring her body in front of him. They both were still wet from the bath, and he is sure that there will be words later. But for now, everything is perfect. He trails his hands down her body, admiring it. Loving how creamy her skin is next to his.

When he reaches her hips, he smirks as she tries to move under him. But he ignores her, and lightly trails his hands down the outside of legs, moving them outside of his own. He is enjoying the view, knowing no one has or will see what is in front of him.

Watching him, Bella can see the moment when his possessiveness comes over him. His eyes darken, and the veins around his eyes darken slightly. Not enough for anyone else to notice, but enough for her, who studies his face as though it is a portrait, notices.

* * *

**Lemon! I took out some things from above, but the lemon starts officially here. Visit my site at WordPress (Under the same penname) or use the Link in the profile!**

* * *

Before she is completely back to normal, he slides out of her, flipping her around until her rear is before him, presenting herself to him. He growls, and the last part of his humanity is gone as he thrusts back into her. His pace is brutal, but there is nothing but pleasure for them both. Not even thinking of what he is doing, he brings his wrist to his mouth, and tears it open before presenting it to her. He himself sliding up to her neck.

Bella latches on, drinking deeply of him, only hesitating when his mouth bites into her, and that is from the pure pleasure ripping through them both as they come together yet again.

That is the last thing either remembers for the night…

* * *

**Final count, 2,988 words.**

**Please review. I know. You are not happy with the whole removing things part. But here is the reasoning behind it. I have 11 stories going on. I write in True Blood and Twilight, 2 groups who were hit with the removals pretty heavily. Some of my friends stories are gone. In the interest of making sure that my stories are still here for those who don't enjoy reading lemons (And yes there are really those people out there!), I did this. I also don't want to deal with the hassle of fighting with FanFiction if they do suspend my account and reposting stories and so on. So let's just all play by the rules and allow me my go around. Now.. I am off to post the chapters and work on stuff for the next week! Enjoy!**

**Fairfarren~Wendy**


	16. Chapter 15 All Systems Go

**Many thanks to Sitalia for her beta skill on this chapter. Well, this is the last of the chapters that were published already on WordPress. From now on it will be new chapters for both site!**

**Disclosure: Twilight and Vampire Diaries are owned by their respective braianics that thought of it. **

**Pre Edit Count - 3,460 Words **

_Song I listened to for this chapter: Radioactive _by Imagine Dragons.

* * *

_Previous:_

_Before she is completely back to normal, he slides out of her, flipping her around until her rear is before him, presenting herself to him. He growls, and the last part of his humanity is gone as he thrusts back into her. His pace is brutal, but there is nothing but pleasure for them both. Not even thinking of what he is doing, he brings his wrist to his mouth, and tears it open before presenting it to her. He himself sliding up to her neck._

_Bella latches on, drinking deeply of him, only hesitating when his mouth bites into her, and that is from the pure pleasure ripping through them both as they come together yet again._

_That is the last thing either remembers for the night…_

_Now:_

* * *

The sun creeps into the sleepy town of Mystic Falls. As the light washes over the town, it lands upon the home of the newest Mated vampires in the world.

Damon wakes up when the sun rose, his instincts crying out for him to procure blood for his Mate. He growls low as he realizes that his senses are heightened more than they were last night. He also can feel his Bella, in transition beside him. He can feel everything, realizing that he will always know where she is, what she is feeling, if she is in need of food or anything really.

He smirks when he realizes that his little carissia will never be able to hide her wants or needs from him. He knew it meant the same for him, but it didn't bother him.

Turning to his Mate, he has no idea he has vamped out. All he knows is the longer he waits, the more his instincts call out for him to be ready to feed her.

He springs out of bed but only after he nuzzles her, taking in the scent of them both on her. He dresses without a real thought, heading out of the room, but only after making sure she is covered. She is his, no other can see her.

He heads to the painting she had used to close up the house, and used the code she had told him last night to unlock the house. But he did not withdraw the shutters, and put the system on a countdown. He will need to go out to get a human, but he wanted the house on lockdown. Nothing will be getting through to his mate!

But when he opens the door, Elijah is standing there with a human by his side.

Elijah looks at his son in law, and can see a slight difference. He can tell the urge to Mate is gone, but Damon is now part of a very small group who is basically slaved to his Mate. Bella will be no better, it is a truly symbiotic relationship that Mates have. Luckily, all the couples who have been Mated have all deeply loved their Mates.

"I brought a human as soon as I felt the backwash of power. No need to worry, you and Bella are mine now." Elijah negligently tells him, then raises an eyebrow at him, waiting for the invitation into their home.

Damon shudders, and then carefully backs away.

Elijah grabs the human and they are both inside in seconds. Elijah sighs. He turns to Damon and tells him. "Remember our conversation?"

Damon lifts an eyebrow at him as he comments, "Which one? We had many."

Elijah smirks at him. "The one where she will be feeding from you?"

Damon nods.

Looking up where his daughter is, he tells him, "It starts now. You need to drink from him, then go straight to your Mate. I will wait in the library. Don't worry about how long it takes, just come down when you both are ready. I take it, you have gifted her with a suitable gift for the sun?"

Vamping over to the human, Damon gave into his instincts and drank. His eyes squint as the blood tastes slightly flat to him. But he drinks, his instincts driving him. He finally withdrawals, and the next second is upstairs with Bella as she wakes.

Elijah catches the witch and gives him some of his blood. He grins. He wanted his daughter to have every chance possible. It has never been proven that it is any different for them to transition on human or witch blood, but it doesn't hurt either. He grins upstairs at his children and makes his way into the Library. There will be a lot needing to be done today.

* * *

When Damon is in the room, he sheds his clothing without thought as he makes his way across the room to his Mate. Without stopping, he is soon on the bed on all fours, his body caging his Mates. His eyes are trained on her, while his senses keep track of the other males in the house.

When Bella wakes up, the first thing she sees is Damon. Right before she woke up, his face fell from his vamped out visage and is his normal one, staring back at her.

He smiles, "Good morning mia carissia. How do you feel?" his hand reaches up and cups her jaw tenderly.

She smiles, and tells him honestly, "Thirsty. And odd…"

He smirks. "Just wait, carissia. My senses are way above normal, and I have no doubt yours will be fun too. But first, you need to feed. And your dear father, as well as my own instincts, tell me that you need your first meal from me."

Bella scrunches her forehead, "Damon, I thought that I had to feed from a human?"

Damon smiles down, as he lowers himself to her lips. After kissing her, he asks huskily, "But what are your instincts telling you to do?"

A tear fall from her eye, "It's telling me to attack you, to drink you." Then her voice turns pleading, "Damon, I don't want to hurt you!"

He gathers her in his arms as he turns them. He holds her to him as he quietly ssh's her. He tells her quietly in her ear, "You will never hurt me. Bella, I need you to drink from me. I don't understand it, but please, mia carissia, please drink from me. Once you have, we will head downstairs to Elijah and find out what is going on."

He turns her in his arms and leans his head to the side, guiding her head to his neck gently. He hears the sound of her fangs and then his eyes roll back in pleasure from her bite.

* * *

**Minor Lemon removed per 's rules. Up on WordPress site.**

* * *

With each draw from the other, their Bond intensifies, and solidifies into an unbreakable Mating Bond. Both climax at the same time, holding onto the other.

They both lick each other's necks as they calm down. Once Damon is reasoning again, he nuzzles her neck and tells her, "I love you, my Bella."

Bella laughs softly as she pulls back to look into his eyes. She notices the red fading away from his eyes and the veins retracting in his face. Her hand moves faster than she thought it would, but Damon doesn't flinch from her as her fingers trail down his face softly. The only movement he does is as they pass his mouth is to reach up and hold them as he kisses them gently.

Looking at him, made her aware of how handsome he was. He was not like Edward with the beautiful body and face, no Damon is all male. He could never be called beautiful by anyone standards, no his jaw and his overall demeanor is all as manly male as any could ever ask. But at the same time, he is not overly built either, he is perfect in her eyes, as male as any woman would wish.

Bella murmurs, "I really lucked out with you."

Laughing at her, Damon ran his hand through her hair and teases her, "You mean I lucked out with you. Damn, but I didn't think you could be any more perfect than before, but you had to go prove me wrong, my Bella."

The laughter that escapes her this time vibrates through the house. Elijah in the Library, talking with the witch, who has recovered by now, looks up and smiles.

Damon is grinning up to her and tells her softly, "Elijah's here. I think we need to meet with him, mia Carissia. I can tell you already there are changes to me, and how things are normally done."

Sighing, Bella tells him bluntly, "I don't want to move."

Smirking, Damon pulls her closer as he murmurs back, "Me neither. I wanted to be right where I am since I met you, Bella. But we need the information. And me going to get you a human, well the only way I was able to leave is because my instincts were driving me to get you blood."

Bella looks up at him through her eyelashes, "And I take that is not normal?"

Cursing under his breath, Damon lifts her face up by a finger under her chin, "I don't need any incentives to stay in bed with you. But the sooner we get down there, the sooner we can be back up here in bed. We may not surface for a couple days, weeks, months…"

Grinning at him, Bella shakes her head. "I get it." She kisses Damon, then pulls herself off of him. Both growl as they separate. Damon watches her as she stands, unabashedly enjoying the view his Mate is giving him.

Bella heads into the closet, laughing as she hears Damon groan. She grabs a black dress, and feeling mischievous, grabs some stalkings and a garter. She figures Damon will enjoy taking them off.

She carefully dresses, marveling at her new senses, at how even the material feels. She never cared about it before. As she is bringing the last of the dress down her legs, another pair of hands help her.

Damon is smirking as he asks, "You are making sure we make our way back here as fast as possible aren't you?" his hands caress the skin between her garters and the band of the lace covering her.

Leaning back in his arms, Bella tells him, "I'm making up for lost time."

He nuzzles her neck as he is chuckling. He literally cannot seem to stay away from her. Everything, her body, her scent, her being calls to him. And he is not resisting at all.

Sighing, he backs away holding out his hand to her. She smiles, and after slipping into some heels, takes it. Pulling her close to him, he holds her left hand and kisses the ring he had put there last night. Then leads her downstairs to the meeting with her father.

* * *

Elijah stands as they enter the room, his smile widening as he senses the changes in her. He glances at Jonas Martin as he notices the witch staring at her.

Damon moves slightly in front of her when he notices the look from the human he had drank from to give Bella the blood needed to transition. He growls at the human as he brings Bella closer to him and rest his hand on her hip.

Not knowing why her mate is upset, Bella complies instantly with his movements and rests her hand on his hip, letting him know where she is. She also went to extend her shield to cover Damon, but finds that it is already covering him, both sides.

Elijah is in front of Jonas growling and tells him, "Submit or die. Your choice."

Jonas's eyes widen and he immediately drops his eyes and bears his neck to his master. Elijah growls, and then asks, "Are you satisfied, Damon?"

Damon is vibrating with the need to protect his mate. He looks at the man and then Elijah. But he only calms when Bella rests her other hand on his back. Taking a deep breath, he closes his eyes and calms the power that is raging inside of him. Only when he is calm does he allow Bella from behind him.

Elijah cocks his head as he turns. He lifts an eyebrow to Damon, and when the vampire nods, he opens his arms to Bella.

Moving quickly, she moves to him and sighs once his arms are around her. She felt at home. Not quite as grounded as when she is with Damon, he is everything to her, her sun, moon, her very being centers around him. But Elijah is what she has been missing in her life when she would hug her father.

Damon smiles at the feeling he is getting from her as he heads to the liquor cabinet to pour them a drink.

Once Damon has their drinks and is heading to the chair they normally sit in, Elijah leads her to him and seats her with him, smiling the whole way. As he makes his way back to his seat, he glares at Jonas as he stares at her.

Jonas can feel the stare of Elijah and Damon and he tries to explain it to them, "There is a power in her that I have only sensed in Elijah and you Damon before. I cannot explain it. She is closer to Damon as she feels like a contained lightning storm, but what is containing it is Elijah's calm. I cannot explain it any better than that. It is soothing but at the same time it energizes and captures the attention."

Elijah thinks and finally comments, "That would make sense. Bella, do you feel our connection now?"

Damon's hand is on her knee as she is leaning into his side with her arms wrapped around his arm and leaning her head against his shoulder. She looks up to Elijah from where she had been studying dust motes in the light. She smiles and nods. "It's unbelievable to feel."

Then she frowns. "I know I will have to give up Charlie, but I feel faint feelings of guilt for this…"

Elijah nods. "Understandable. He is your actual biological father and has supported you more than anyone else. This doesn't upset me, nor does it change anything. You're my daughter for all intents and purposes. Damon is now my son, but even he is not as close as you and I are. He is only my son because of the Mating, his blood and yours are one and the same, as it should be. But your conversion to your vampire state has awakened our own Bond, as I thought it would. For you, it means that for both Damon and you, I would first need to be killed for either one of you to be even harmed. Or at least that is what Jonas found out."

Jonas nods, his baritone voice agreeing, "Per the sources I have contacted, Bella is unique in this. But the sources are all agreeing, both on this plane and on the Other Side. Bella and Damon, even stabbed by a White Oak Stake, will not die unless Elijah is gone."

Unable to help himself, Damon chuckles. "Well, thanks for that Elijah."

Jonas shakes his head. "It's Bella you mainly have to thank that for. She is the missing link, without her, it wouldn't have happened. Her connection to Elijah is…amazing. I really cannot explain it, nor could they. But it has to do with her. And you. Your link to the family played a part in it all too, but again, they have no idea why. But they all agree you two are the promise of vampires being continued. It is crucial, and nature itself is working actively to make sure as many steps can be taken to make sure your race continues."

Damon leans his head back as he sighs. He asks, "Is it too much to ask for a couple of drama free weeks? I really wanted to take the time and ravish my mate until she can't walk. Then rest before I repeat a couple of times. I am tired of the witchy afterlife taking away fun times."

Elijah laughs. "Life will certainly be more fun for knowing you, Damon. But think about it. We have the Cullens, the Sun and Moon curse, my own need to woo my Mate from your brother. Keeping Elena alive past the sacrifice time so we can find out what to do with the whole situation. Not to mention anything else coming, because none of that sounds like the end of our race type thing."

Bella grins. "At least you don't have to worry about me anymore."

Both men chuckle at that. Damon looks down at his diminutive mate as he tells her, "I will always worry about you, my Bella. And I have no doubt that Elijah will do the same. You are too important to the both of us to take a chance."

Elijah nods and watches as she brushes a hand through her hair and smiles. "I take it that is the ring you gave her?"

Damon looks at him and nods. "It was my mother's and my father sold it when she died. When I found it, my memories were hazy but I felt it was important to purchase. When my first ring was spelled, Emily did that one too. She told me to give it to my other half, which at the time I thought was Katherine. But I never could. In fact as I told Bella, I thought the ring lost until it fell out of a coat pocket. The spell on it should match my own."

Jonas nods, "I don't think anyone could repeat such work again. The two are made to be worn by mates. However you gave it to her, was the right way and set the spells."

Damon just stares at the ring. He looks up at Elijah and asks bluntly, "Are our lives always going to be governed by the Other Side?"

Elijah lifts an eyebrow as he thinks through what Damon is insinuating. "It is a disturbing thought. But right now they are all protecting you and your mate. Is that so bad?"

Bella is frowning and then, tapping Damon's hand on her knee rises to go over to her desk. As she settles in her chair, Damon is behind her, taking her laptop out of its hiding place, handing it to her.

Elijah watches them, the smile hovering on his face. He is enjoying the two's closeness, knowing that this will be an eternal happenstance between the two. And quite honestly, he is thrilled. No matter what, Damon will ensure her life will be happy and she will be loved. What father could ask for more?

Bella quickly signs into the laptop and asks Elijah, "Where did your mother come up with the spell to turn you and your family?"

Elijah rises an eyebrow. "I don't know."

Biting her lower lip as she thinks and tries a few searches. She looks up at him, Damon's hands already on her shoulders as she asks him, "I feel that is as important as the other questions. There is just a feeling of an apocalypse hanging over everything. And your right, none of the issues facing us are that important. I think we need to get your brother here in some sort of manner that we can control. We also need to find out if Nature is wanting his curse lifted. If it didn't why would it keep having the doppelgangers? And what is the importance of each time they have appeared since they are so rare. Something is triggering all of this."

Damon smirks as he looks up from her. "And welcome to the new age of Bella. One with the questions that we needed to be asked all this time."

Elijah sighs as he says, "And let us hope that is all she is needed for." His eyes meets them both as he states, "Because I really would hate to find out what you two are really capable of, since that will mean we will need it."

* * *

**Final count, 3,526 words.**

**Please leave a review. **

**Also, FYI - **

**Just want to let you guys know ahead of time. I have been sickly lately, and my betas have been pushing for me to take a vacation from publishing. I push myself really hard, and lately I am running out of chapters and not enough time to work on new ones.**

**Brotherhood (an Original Fiction only being published on WordPress) is the precursor for one of my stories I will be turning into a Original Fiction. What most of you don't realize is that I have no job. My deal with my hubby is to have something by the end of the year ready to send to be published. The story I will be turning that way is not even close to being finished. Brotherhood is my answer to it. I HAVE to do this or the stories will be stopped because of looking for a new job and the stress of learning a new job. I much rather work on writing.**

**My goal for this vacation? To just … write. I have some chapters out for Betas to work on, but I am not going to push for it. If they publish, then I will do my side of the work. I want to finish some stories, like Tea Shoppe (Which their fans have been waiting years for) which will complete Twilighted version of that story, and What If. I want to also finish up the current books for ED and You're along with Revelations. This will leave me able to concentrate on the stories that I know will be big. Tin Man, Once, ITE, Blood are all on the list to have many chapters be ahead. Along with the sequels to Revelations, ED and You're.**

**So I will be publishing, for those that have chapters to the Betas and they indicate are ready for you guys. But I will be focusing on finishing some stories. The ones I named are the closest to finishing.**

**Please be patient and you will be rewarded with many, many, weeks of constant updates!**

**Fairfarren~Wendy**


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